The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and other Related Matters, Kano Zonal Command, said it had rescued 57 victims of human trafficking in Katsina State.
The NAPTIP Zonal Commander, Mr Shehu Umar said in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Kano on Tuesday, that the latest arrest raise the number of victims rescued to 263 this year.
He said the 57 victims were intercepted on Saturday, Oct. 8.
“The victims were intercepted in two separate groups by the Nigeria Immigration Service in Katsina state along Kongolom border in Mai’adua Local Area on their way to Libya.”
He said following the receipt of the report, the Zonal command went to Katsina and rescued the victims whose traffickers had since escaped.
“All the victims are here now with us pending the completion of the investigation currently going on.”
Umar said preliminary investigation had shown that the victims paid between N5, 000 and N250, 000 as fares to their traffickers to facilitate the journey to Libya.
He said the victims, aged between 12 and 38, had no travelling documents and were from Abia, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Enugu, Imo, Kogi, Lagos and Ondo states.
According to him, the victims would be reunited with their families as soon as investigation was completed.
“With this achievement, the command has been able to rescue no fewer than 263 victims of human trafficking from January to date.
“Out of this number, 173 are female while the remaining 90 are male.
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