The Director-General, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Binta Adamu Bello, has said the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, is becoming a comfort zone for human traffickers.
She stated this yesterday when she led an operation to the airport, which led to the rescue of 24 victims of human trafficking and arrest of five suspected trafficking agents.
The victims whose ages range from 15 to 26 years, were recruited from Kano, Kastina, Oyo, Ondo and Rivers states, and were heading to Iraq, Sudan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Afghanistan.
According to a statement in Abuja by the Press Officer of NAPTIP, Vincent Adekoye, one of the suspected human traffickers, was a retired senior law enforcement officer.
The suspect is alleged to be a prominent member of the trafficking syndicate operating within the Southwest.
On how the raid was carried out, the agency stated: ‘The latest raid followed a tip-off from concerned stakeholders and partners who alerted us to an influx of suspected human trafficking victims at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, and the unwholesome activities of some suspected traffickers.
‘At the end of nearly six hours of operation, the human trafficking were disrupted, leading to the arrest of five suspected traffickers and rescue of 24 suspected victims.