No fewer than 12 victims of human trafficking have been repatriated from Ghana by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons as part of its ongoing trans-border collaboration with state and non-state actors in the fight against human trafficking.
The Lagos State Command of NAPTIP disclosed in a statement issued on Tuesday that the victims were rescued through coordinated efforts involving the Nigerian High Commission in Ghana and other sister law enforcement agencies.
The returnees comprised nine females aged between 17 and 19, two 22-year-old males, and a baby.
According to the agency, preliminary investigations revealed that the victims were recruited, deceived, and trafficked to Ghana with false promises of lucrative jobs. However, they were allegedly forced into prostitution and cybercrime activities after arriving in the country.
Receiving the returnees, the Zonal Commander of NAPTIP Lagos, Mrs Agboko Comfort, who was represented by the Head of the International and Intelligence Cooperation Unit, Omolara Ibrahim, urged the victims to see their return as an opportunity to rebuild their lives.
She also commended partner agencies for their roles in the operation, saying they ensured “the proper referral/handover of the returnees to the agency.”
Comfort further assured that the agency would intensify efforts to track down and prosecute those behind the trafficking network.
“She also assured that the agency would go after their trafficker and prosecute them,” the statement added.
In a related development, troops of the Nigerian Army have disrupted trafficking activities in Ibereko, Badagry, Lagos State, arresting suspects and rescuing two female victims during a patrol along the Seme border area.
“Details revealed that the troops were on patrol. Intercepted the suspects… while heading to the Seme border with two female victims,” the statement added.
The army further explained that the suspects were intercepted while conveying the victims to the Seme border, where they were to be handed over to another contact within a trafficking chain, with plans to move them to Ghana.
“The Nigerian Army reports that preliminary investigations reveal that the trio was intercepted while conveying the two victims to the Seme Border, where they were to be handed over to another contact in their chain of operation, with plans to move the girls to Ghana.”
One suspect remains at large, according to the army, which said the fourth suspect was “sadly not apprehended, as he is presently at large.”
The development comes less than three weeks after NAPTIP secured the conviction and life imprisonment of two security guards, James Sule, 30, and Adamu Yau, 25, based in Abuja, for repeatedly raping a six-year-old girl over six years.
The convicts were sentenced to life imprisonment without the option of a fine by Justice S.M. Mayana of the Federal Capital Territory High Court 46, Apo, Abuja, following their arraignment by NAPTIP in line with the provisions of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, 2025.
