The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has rescued seven young women suspected to be victims of human trafficking following a raid on a well-known hotel in Zamaru, a few kilometers from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
According to NAPTIP’s Chief Press Officer, Vincent Adekoye, in a statement released on Sunday evening, the girls “were being prepared to be trafficked to Baghdad, Iraq, for exploitation.”
The statement is titled ‘NAPTIP raids popular hotel near Abuja Airport harbouring Iraq–bound suspected human trafficking victims, rescues 7 victims.’
Adekoye explained that the operation, which was carried out based on a tip-off, also resulted in the arrest of the hotel manager, who is currently under interrogation for allegedly sheltering the victims.
The hotel had been under surveillance after concerns were raised about unusual movements of young girls and unfamiliar men in the area—indicators that NAPTIP linked to the activities of a trafficking network.
A preliminary investigation into the rescued victims revealed that six were recruited from Lagos, while one was from Delta State.
They were allegedly enticed with offers of “well-paying caregiving jobs in Iraq but later discovered they were being trafficked,” the statement read.
“They told me that I would do a househelp job in Baghdad and I would receive a good salary every month.
“I believed them because I know Baghdad is in another country. Dem no tell me say I dey go work for Iraq,”** one of the victims tearfully recounted, as stated by Adekoye.
NAPTIP’s Continued Anti-Trafficking Efforts
This rescue operation adds to a growing number of interceptions by NAPTIP, which has recently prevented over 60 suspected victims from being trafficked through the Abuja airport to conflict-ridden Middle Eastern countries.
Responding to the incident, NAPTIP’s Director-General, Binta Bello, expressed concern over the involvement of service providers in human trafficking, stating that the hotel functioned as a “muster point” for traffickers operating between Nigeria and the Middle East.
Represented by the Director of Research and Programme Development, Josiah Emerole, the DG stated:
“It is sad the way some service providers aid and abet the recruitment, transportation, transfer, and harbouring of Nigerians who are victims of human trafficking.
“The suspected victims are trafficked from different parts of the country and harbored in the hotel.
“The victims were being briefed on how to evade arrest and respond to questioning at the airport,” she added, emphasizing that harboring trafficking victims is a punishable offense under the law.
Bello warned that the agency would fully enforce legal measures against individuals or organizations found complicit in trafficking activities.
NAPTIP also stated that efforts had been intensified to track down other members of the trafficking network suspected of collaborating with criminal syndicates in Iraq.
“The manager of the hotel is being quizzed, and we have also intensified the manhunt for other members of the trafficking gang working in collaboration with other criminal elements in Iraq,” the DG stated.
