The Jigawa State Command of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) said it rescued eight victims of human trafficking in the state.
The NIS comptroller in the state, Samson Agada, stated this at a press conference in Dutse on Friday.
Agada said the victims were intercepted by men of the command on Wednesday at a Dutse motor park in Dutse Local Government Area.
He explained that the victims, aged between 16 and 24, were apprehended on May 5 at about 7 am on their way to Europe.
The controller added that it consists of six females and two males.
According to him, six of the victims were from Benue, while two were from Abia and Ebonyi states.
“Upon their interception at Dutse motor park and subsequent profiling and interrogation, the young victims told us that they were told to inform any security agent that they were in Jigawa to act as vendors for supplement drugs for a company called New Life International.
“On further interrogation, we discovered that their agent only used this deception to get them trafficked across the border from Jigawa to the Republic of Niger and onward to North Africa, where they would board them on a ship via the Atlantic Ocean to Europe,” the comptroller said.
Agada further disclosed that three persons suspected of having arranged for the victims’ transit have been apprehended by the command.
He said the victims and the three suspected agents would soon be handed over to the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) for further action.
“We are using this opportunity to appeal to all parents to watch over their children from being deceived by such agents who make bogus deceits to young children about a better life abroad, not minding the harsh consequences of going through the illegal routes with attendance hazards,” he warned.
