The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has intercepted 13 girls suspected to be victims of human trafficking en route to Baghdad, Iraq for segxwal and labour exploitation.
The press officer of NAPTIP, Vincent Adekoye, who disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday, February 18, 2025, said the operation was conducted with the support of partners.
The girls whose ages range between 19 to 39 years old were allegedly deceived and recruited by some faceless unregistered labour recruiters who are suspected to be agents of a larger criminal labour recruiting gang operating between Nigeria and some Middle East Countries.
They were incepted at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja, shortly before departing for Iraq.
The interception of the Iraq-bound girls followed a tip-off by some concerned partners who noticed the unusual movement of some unknown faces at the departure lounge of the Airport in the company of some timidly looking girls all chorusing the same answer to different questions about their destination, and immediately alerted the Agency.
Speaking on the incident, the Director General of NAPTIP, Binta Adamu Bello, OON, who witnessed the interception of the first batch of five girls at the Airport on her way out of Abuja for an official duty to Adamawa, expressed displeasure over the level of deceit by the traffickers and called on parents and guardian to always be careful of fake promises for their children and wards.
