Operatives of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) have rescued 25 women suspected to be victims of labour exploitation en route to Saudi Arabia.
The victims were rescued when the agency commenced a manhunt for a popular travel Agency suspected of playing a prominent role in the recruitment of the victims.
NAPTIP noted that the unsuspecting victims between the ages of 17 and 43 were picked up in front of a popular hotel in Wuse II area of Abuja, where they were gathered and waiting for their trafficker.
According to a statement by NAPTIP’s Press Officer, Vincent Adekoye, the victims claimed that they were recruited from Kano, Jigawa, and Katsina States by some persons with a promise to travel to Saudi Arabia to work as house help.
One of the victims, whose name was not disclosed, said: “Some people came to our village and told my parent that they would assist me to travel abroad to work as a house help in Saudi Arabia. They assured us that the job there will pay us very well, and we will be able to come and take care of our parents and families.
“They asked us to come and wait for them here so that they will give us the travel document and the necessary instructions on how to go. They have not given us any documents, like an International Passport and a visa, and we are worried that none of them is here to attend to us as promised”.
Some of the victims also said they were in Abuja for the first time, and they are stranded.
Commenting on the development, the Director General of NAPTIP, Binta Bello, while condemning the activities of the traffickers who have continued to feed on the vulnerability of victims in remote parts of the country, said some trafficking gangs now use Abuja as a centralised coordination point for trafficking.
She said, “I wish to alert our partners and stakeholders to the new modus operandi of a human trafficking syndicate that uses the Federal Capital Territory as a muster point for their nefarious activities. You will recall that a few months ago, some victims were intercepted and rescued from a hotel located close to the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja, just as they were about to be trafficked to some destination countries in the Middle East.
“Now, we have intercepted another 25 women. The sad aspect of the whole thing is that they excitedly jumped at the offer from the traffickers without knowing the harrowing experience and the level of exploitation that awaits them in the destination country.
“Well, the good news is that we have successfully disrupted this trafficking process, and we are closing in on the Agency whose name features prominently in the whole thing.
“Let me use this medium to call on the umbrella body of the Travel Agency, the Association of Recruiters, Licensed Placement Agency of Nigeria, and other regulatory bodies, to rise to their responsibility of regulating the activities of their members.
“The mindless exploitation of victims of human trafficking in those destination countries remains a source of serious concern to NAPTIP, so this scenario must stop.”
(The Nation)
