The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) has handed over to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking In Persons and Other Related Matters, a 17-year-old girl from Oyo State who was arrested in Kebbi while she was allegedly on her way to Libya.
A girl was traveling alone when she was arrested by immigration personnel in Yauri, Kebbi.
Here’s what the state’s Comptroller, Mrs Rabi Bashir-Nuhu, had to say: “While briefing pressmen in Birnin Kebbi on Tuesday.”
The comptroller is concerned that this girl is being trafficked to Libya. He believes she will be used for either labor exploitation, prostitution, or organ harvesting.
On November 26th, the girl was caught at the Yauri border and was unaccompanied.
A girl from Sokoto said her mother told her to meet a woman called Zainab in the area, but when the NIS office hosted guests from Sokoto, she claimed to be ill.
“When the girl came to us, she was in tears and we thought she had lost her way. She said she needed help,” says Bashir-Nuhu. “To avoid further maltreatment, we decided to take her for a medical examination.”
Despite warnings by the comptroller’s office, parents still allow their children to be involved in risky behavior such as this.
National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) received the victim, and Alhaji Misbahu Iyya-Kaura state Commandant said they would investigate the matter.
He said that human trafficking is organized crime and needs concerted efforts to keep it under control.
“We are going to investigate the recruitment, transit, and final destination of the victim,” he said. He also praised NIS for collaborating with the agency to tackle human trafficking in Nigeria.
