The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) have revealed that its officers intercepted and rescued about 189 young adults who are believed to be victims of human trafficking at the Lagos Border Patrol Command in Seme.
This was said by the acting Comptroller-General of the NIS, Isah Jere Idris while speaking at the Zone ‘A’ headquarters of the service in Lagos.
According to Jere, the rescues were in batches as the youths were been taken out of the country. A breakdown of the number shows that there were 115 girls and 74 boys between the ages of 15 and 20.
The first batch of the rescue comprised of 92 victims on January 22, 2022, while another 97 were picked up a few days later.
Additionally, in a statement signed by Amos Okpu, spokesperson for the service, the victims were said to be headed to Emerald University in Benin Republic to commence degree programmes as a faith-based organisation based in Imo and Abia states had offered them provisional admissions into the school.
However, the victims were unable to present any evidence of admission, as only three had valid travel documents. The victims are from Abia, Kogi, Anambra, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Lagos and Imo states among others.
Two persons, namely; Sunday Emmanuel Chinasa and M. Rose Onum Uduma who accompanied the victims were reportedly arrested as they coordinated the trip, according to the statement.
The victims claimed they had paid N50, 000 for the process while the arrested duo claimed they were students of ISCG University in Benin Republic and had been mandated to ensure the youths get to Benin Republic.
Announcing that his service would continue to improve border security and migration management to discourage irregular migration, the CG warned the public to beware of fraudsters, who disguise themselves in different ways to convince people to accept all manner of offers abroad.
In an effort to further strengthen the fight against cross-border crimes, the governor encouraged the public to continue to provide useful information to the service, while the 189 victims have been handed over to the NAPTIP Lagos Zonal Office for further processing.
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