The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons has received 12 Nigerian victims of human trafficking repatriated from Ghana, as authorities intensify efforts to dismantle cross-border trafficking syndicates operating along the West African corridor.
The victims, received by the Lagos Zonal Command of NAPTIP, comprised nine females aged between 17 and 19, two adult males aged 22, and a baby.
NAPTIP said the victims were rescued through coordinated operations involving the Nigerian High Commission in Ghana and other security and law enforcement agencies working across both countries.
Preliminary investigations by the agency revealed that the victims were allegedly deceived with promises of lucrative employment opportunities before being trafficked into Ghana, where they were reportedly forced into prostitution and cybercrime activities.
“Preliminary investigation revealed that they were recruited, deceived, and trafficked to Ghana with a fake promise of a lucrative job by yet-to-be-identified traffickers but were forced into prostitution and cybercrime in Ghana,” the agency stated.
Receiving the returnees on behalf of the Lagos Zonal Commander, Mrs.. Agboko Comfort, the Head of the International and Intelligence Cooperation Unit, Omolara Ibrahim, urged the victims to see their rescue as an opportunity to rebuild their lives.
She also commended partner agencies and diplomatic officials involved in facilitating the operation and ensuring the safe transfer of the victims back to Nigeria.
NAPTIP assured that investigations were ongoing to identify and prosecute members of the trafficking network behind the operation.
The latest rescue comes amid growing concern over transborder trafficking activities involving young Nigerians, particularly women and minors trafficked through the Seme border corridor into neighboring West African countries.
In a related operation, troops of the Nigerian Army intercepted suspected human traffickers in Ibereko, Badagry area of Lagos State, during a patrol near the Seme border.
Military authorities said the suspects were apprehended while attempting to move two female victims toward the border for onward transfer to Ghana through another trafficking contact.
“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,” the Army said.
Security officials disclosed that one additional suspect linked to the trafficking ring escaped arrest and remains at large as investigations continue.
Nigeria remains one of the major sources, transit, and destination countries for human trafficking in West Africa, with traffickers increasingly exploiting economic hardship and irregular migration routes across the region.
