.As NAPTIP rescues another 25 Middle East bound trafficking victims in Abuja
CHIDIMMA UCHEGBU , Abuja and PHIL OKOSE , Onitsha
In its bid to ensure a crime-free Anambra state, the state Police Command through its Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Tochukwu Ikenga (SP), said it recorded significant breakthroughs in its fight against crimes relating to child trafficking and sexual offences.
According to him sequel to an intelligence-based investigation into a case of conspiracy, child stealing, and trafficking transferred from Okpoko Police Station to the State Criminal Investigation Department of the Gender Unit for discreet investigation, the Operatives swung into action and successfully rescued a six-year-old victim from an alleged foster parent in Ondo State.
The rescued child has since been reunited with his biological mother, while all the suspects have been charged in the Children, Sexual, and Gender-Based Violence Court for diligent prosecution.
He disclosed further that in a similar development, “On 13th August 2025, Operatives of the Rapid Response Squad Awkuzu responded to a distress call at Ebenebe Community over a case of defilement of an 11-year-old girl and arrested one Uchenna Nweke ‘M’, aged 18 years.
“Preliminary findings revealed that the suspect allegedly forced his way into the bathroom where the victim was bathing and had unlawful carnal knowledge of her.
Further revelations from the medical report confirmed the suspect’s culpability. Nevertheless, the Case will be heard in court on Wednesday, 20th August 2025.
“The Commissioner of Police, CP Ikioye Orutugu (fwc MNIPS PhD) has reiterated the Command’s unwavering commitment to protecting children and other vulnerable groups.
He has assured the public that offenders of such heinous crimes will face the full weight of the Law,” he stated.
.As NAPTIP rescues another 25 Middle East bound trafficking victims in Abuja
However, The operatives of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) have rescued 25 women suspected to be victims of labour exploitation en route to Saudi Arabia.
The development comes as the Agency has launched a manhunt for a popular travel agency suspected of playing a prominent role in recruiting the victims.
NAPTIP noted that the unsuspecting victims between the ages of 17 and 43 were picked up in front of a popular hotel in Wuse II area of Abuja, where they were gathered and waiting for their trafficker.
According to a statement by NAPTIP’s Press Officer, Vincent Adekoye, the victims claimed that they were recruited from Kano, Jigawa, and Katsina States by some persons with a promise to travel to Saudi Arabia to work as house helps.
One of the victims, whose name was not disclosed, said: “Some people came to our village and told my parents that they would assist me to travel abroad to work as a house help in Saudi Arabia. They assured us that the job there will pay us very well, and we will be able to come and take care of our parents and families.
“They asked us to come and wait for them here so that they will give us the travel documents and the necessary instructions on how to go.
They have not given us any documents, like an International Passport and a visa, and we are worried that none of them is here to attend to us as promised”.
Some of the victims also said they were in Abuja for the first time, and they are stranded.
Commenting on the development, the Director General of NAPTIP, Binta Bello, while condemning the activities of the traffickers who have continued to feed on the vulnerability of victims in remote parts of the country, said some trafficking gangs now use Abuja as a centralised coordination point for trafficking.
She said, “I wish to alert our partners and stakeholders to the new modus operandi of a human trafficking syndicate that uses the Federal Capital Territory as a muster point for their nefarious activities.
You will recall that a few months ago, some victims were intercepted and rescued from a hotel located close to the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja, just as they were about to be trafficked to some destination countries in the Middle East.
“Now, we have intercepted another 25 women. The sad aspect of the whole thing is that they excitedly jump at the offer from the traffickers without knowing the harrowing experience and the level of exploitation that awaits them in the destination country.
“Well, the good news is that we have successfully disrupted this trafficking process, and we are closing in on the Agency whose name features prominently in the whole thing.
“Let me use this medium to call on the umbrella body of the Travel Agency, the Association of Recruiters, Licensed Placement Agency of Nigeria, and other regulatory bodies, to rise to their responsibility of regulating the activities of their members.
“The mindless exploitation of victims of human trafficking in those destination countries remains a source of serious concern to NAPTIP, so this scenario must stop.”
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