The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has intercepted 13 Nigerian girls being trafficked to Iraq for suspected sexual and labour exploitation.
The victims, aged between 19 and 39, were allegedly deceived and recruited by unregistered labour agents linked to an international trafficking syndicate. They were intercepted at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
The operation thwarted the girls’ departure following a tip-off from concerned individuals who noticed their unusual behaviour at the airport’s departure lounge, according to a statement by Vincent Adekoye, NAPTIP Press Officer, on Tuesday.
The statement reads in part, “The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) with the support of Partners, has intercepted 13 girls suspected to be victims of human trafficking en route to Baghdad, Iraq for sexual and labour exploitation.
“The girls whose ages range between 19 and 39 years old were allegedly deceived and recruited by some faceless unregistered labour recruiters who are suspected to be agents of a larger criminal labour recruiting gang operating between Nigeria and some Middle East countries.
“They were incepted at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, shortly before departing for Iraq.
“The interception of the girls followed a tip-off by some concerned partners who noticed the unusual movement of some unknown faces at the departure lounge of the Airport in the company of some timidly looking girls all chorusing the same answer to different questions about their destination, and immediately alerted the Agency.”
Speaking on the incident, the Director General of NAPTIP, Binta Adamu Bello, who witnessed the interception of the first batch of five girls at the airport on her way out of Abuja for an official duty to Adamawa, expressed displeasure over the level of deceit by the traffickers and called on parents and guardian to always be careful of fake promises for their children and wards.
The Director General said, “ I wish to point out that our action is in line with the provision of the Trafficking in Persons (Control of Activities of Organizations and Centres) Regulations 2019, which empowers NAPTIP to issue clearance certificates to all travel agents or tour operators and intending travellers for the purpose of educational excursions, recruitment for labour, sporting activities, cultural, music excursions or competitions as well as all organisations, shelters, and homes offering services for the purpose of rehabilitation of trafficked persons.
“The case at hand is pathetic because these girls were deceived and recruited for a supposed job in Baghdad by unlicensed labour recruiters who are not known to any constituted authority in Nigeria. This implies that should anything happen to these girls; we will not be able to hold anyone responsible because they are undocumented labourers.
“Also, they were issued 60 days’ visa and yet signed a labour agreement of 2 years with them. The implication of this is that as soon as the visa expires, they are at the mercy of the master and lose all legal rights to demand anything including their legitimate salary.
“Investigation revealed that they will be paid a sum of 250 dollars as monthly salary by their tax master out of which they will remit 4 months’ salary to the Agent here in Nigeria and another huge sum to the Agent in Iraq.
“From the testimonies of scores of victims who passed through the same condition, they were never paid regularly as expected, maybe four or five months only for the agreed contract period of 2 years. In fact, the major issue with their master is when they ask for their salary to be paid.
“It is painful that while unspecified numbers of victims are in those volatile and war-torn destination countries seeking help to be rescued, these are happily embarking on a journey to the unknown.
“We are seriously worried about the situation because some who were rescued recently came home with life-threatening medical conditions while others escaped with a life-threatening wound and everlasting scars inflicted on them by their masters.
“We cannot close our eyes and allow these ones to join the statistics of stranded victims who will are calling on social media for help. We are also on the lookout for the unscrupulous unregistered recruiters who are behind all these scenarios.”
