The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, has received 12 victims of human trafficking repatriated from Ghana in a coordinated cross-border operation involving Nigerian and Ghanaian authorities.
According to a statement from the Lagos Command of the agency, the victims were returned through collaboration between the Nigerian High Commission in Ghana and other partner law enforcement agencies working across both countries.
The returnees include nine females aged between 17 and 19, two males aged 22, and a baby.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the victims were recruited under false promises of lucrative employment opportunities before being trafficked to Ghana, where they were allegedly forced into prostitution and cybercrime.
Officials said the victims were deceived by unidentified traffickers who exploited their vulnerability with fake job offers.
Receiving the victims, the Zonal Commander of NAPTIP in Lagos, Mrs Agboko Comfort, represented by Omolara Ibrahim, Head of the International and Intelligence Cooperation Unit, encouraged the survivors to view their return as an opportunity to rebuild their lives.
She also commended partner agencies involved in the rescue and repatriation process for their coordinated efforts in ensuring the safe return of the victims to Nigeria.
NAPTIP further assured that it would intensify efforts to trace, arrest, and prosecute those behind the trafficking network.
In a related development, troops of the Nigerian Army operating along the Badagry axis in Seme Border intercepted suspected traffickers and rescued two female victims during a patrol in Ibereko, Badagry, Lagos State.
The Army said the suspects were apprehended while attempting to move the victims through a trafficking route connected to Ghana.
One suspect reportedly remains at large, while investigations are ongoing to dismantle the wider trafficking network.
