NIS foil trafficking attempt, rescue two teenagers in Sokoto

The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) Ilela border command has thwarted an attempted human trafficking operation, rescuing two underage girls and arresting a 25-year-old woman, Rukaya Hassan.

The Command Public Relations Officer (CPRO), Mohammed Abdullahi, announced the rescue in a statement on Tuesday.

Hassan was apprehended while trying to traffic the two girls across the border into Niger Republic. The victims have been handed over to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) for further investigation.

Abdullahi stated that the operation was a swift response to the directives of the new Comptroller-General of Immigration (CGI), Mrs. Kemi Nandap. During interrogation, Hassan, a resident of Giribshi area in Sokoto, admitted she did not know the two girls she was accompanying.

She claimed they were handed over to her by a woman in Sokoto, identified as Maman Adnan, who paid for their transport to Niger.

Hassan further explained that Adnan requested her help to take the girls to another woman in Niger, named Amina Yunusa, who promised them jobs in her restaurant in Niamey.

The rescued teenagers, Nabila Ibrahim (17) and Zainab Ibrahim (15), revealed that they were from Zuru LGA in Kebbi State. They disclosed that they were travelling to Niger to work at a restaurant, a trip approved by their parents, despite not knowing the restaurant’s owner.

Comptroller of Immigration, Ilela Command, Tony Akuneme, who conducted the interviews, invited NAPTIP Sokoto State to take charge of the victims and the suspected trafficker. Akuneme reiterated his commitment to combating the smuggling of migrants and trafficking in persons, in line with the CGI’s efforts.