NAPTIP raids Abuja Hotel, rescues seven girls set to be trafficked to Iraq.
The victims were said to be lured with employment offers as six of them came from. Lagos, while one hails from Delta.
In a successful operation, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) rescued seven women from a hotel in Zamaru, near the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
According to the Chief Press Officer of NAPTIP, Vincent Adekoye, the women were purportedly being prepared for trafficking to Baghdad, Iraq, under the guise of employment opportunities.
The operatives of NAPTIP acting on credible intelligence, raided the hotel, which has been long suspected of being a transit point for trafficking victims because of the unusual movement of girls around the establishment. Fortunately, the Hotel manager was apprehended for ng the operation, and he currently facing interrogations at the moment of report.
The Agency revealed that the operation is part of the crackdown effort against human trafficking. In a report made known to Daily Report Nigeria, six of the rescued women were recruited from Lagos State and one from Delta State. They were allegedly deceived with promises of well-paying caregiving jobs in Iraq by unregistered labor recruiters, only to face potential exploitation upon arrival.
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In previous operations, the agency has rescued over 60 women earmarked for trafficking with deceitful promises of job offers abroad. This incident underscores a troubling trend in the country as NAPTIP has intercepted numerous individuals at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport who were en route to volatile regions in the Middle East.
The Director-General of NAPTIP, Binta Adamu Bello, expressed deep concern over the involvement of unscrupulous service providers in facilitating such illicit activities. She emphasized that harboring trafficking victims is a criminal offense under Nigerian law and warned that the agency would prosecute entities found complicit.
Represented by the Director of Research and Programme Development, Mr. Josiah Emerole, She urged parents and guardians to remain vigilant against fraudulent job offers that could lead to exploitation. She further highlighted that many victims, upon arrival in foreign countries, find themselves in precarious situations without legal protections, often subjected to abuse, withheld wages and possibly death.
NAPTIP has reinforced its commitment to the continuous dismantling of traffick networks in the country as it will continue to rescue and support victims found on the web. The agency also called for increased public awareness and cooperation to combat human trafficking effectively in the country.
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