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The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has rescued 25 women in Abuja who were allegedly being prepared for trafficking to Saudi Arabia for forced labour.
Naija News understands that the women, aged 17 to 43, were intercepted in front of a popular hotel in Wuse II, where traffickers had gathered them for onward movement.
According to NAPTIP’s Press Officer, Vincent Adekoye, the victims were recruited from Kano, Jigawa, and Katsina states with promises of high-paying domestic work abroad. Many of them, who had never been to Abuja before, were stranded without travel documents when rescued.
One of the victims told investigators: “Some people came to our village and told my parents they would help me travel abroad to work as a house help in Saudi Arabia. They promised good pay so I could take care of my family. They asked us to wait here for our travel documents and instructions, but none of them showed up.”
NAPTIP’s Director-General, Binta Adamu Bello, confirmed the rescue and said preliminary investigations had linked the operation to a “popular travel agency.”
She disclosed that a manhunt had been launched for the operators, warning that traffickers were now adopting new tactics.
“I wish to alert our partners to a new tactic used by trafficking syndicates who now use Abuja as a muster point,” Bello said.
“Only a few months ago, victims were intercepted near the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport. Now, we have another 25 women rescued.”
Bello called on the Association of Recruiters and Licensed Placement Agency of Nigeria to regulate its members, stressing that victims of trafficking often suffer extreme exploitation abroad.
“The sad part is that many of these women eagerly accepted the traffickers’ offers, unaware of the suffering awaiting them,” she said.
“The good news is that this trafficking process has been disrupted, and we are closing in on the agency responsible.”
NAPTIP said the rescue was part of its intensified surveillance and intelligence operations in major cities following reports of increased recruitment of young women from rural communities for trafficking.
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