Laraba MUREY
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, has raided a hotel near Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, rescuing seven suspected victims of human trafficking bound for Iraq.
In a statement by its Press Officer,Vincent Adekoye, the agency said the operation followed credible intelligence about suspicious movements of young girls and unidentified men at the hotel in Zamaru.
The victims, six from Lagos and one from Delta State, were allegedly being prepared for trafficking to Baghdad, Iraq, under false promises of high-paying caregiver jobs. However, they later realized they were being sent into forced labor.
“They told me I would work as a house help in Baghdad and earn a good salary. I believed them because I thought Baghdad was in another country. They didn’t tell me I was going to Iraq,” one of the rescued victims tearfully recalled.
NAPTIP also arrested the hotel manager and has launched a manhunt for other traffickers involved in the scheme.
Speaking on the raid, NAPTIP’s Director-General, Binta Adamu Bello, expressed concern over the role of some service providers in facilitating human trafficking.
Represented by Director of Research and Programme Development, Mr. Josiah Emerole, she warned that the agency would now prosecute any business aiding the recruitment, transport, or harboring of trafficking victims.
“This hotel is believed to be a transit point for trafficked victims heading to notorious destinations. The manager is being interrogated, and we are intensifying efforts to track other traffickers, including their criminal networks in Iraq,” she said.
She further stated that traffickers often coach victims on how to evade security checks at the airport, disguising them in different ways.
With over 60 suspected victims intercepted at Abuja airport in recent months, NAPTIP vowed to crack down on those enabling human trafficking, stressing that harboring victims is a criminal offense under Nigerian law.
