Immigration Tracks Suspected Trafficked Victims In Jigawa

By Mohammed Abubakar, Dutse

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has intercepted and rescued nine persons believed to be victims of human trafficking in Jigawa state.

The victims, made up of eight females and one male were said to be in the age bracket of between 22-37 years.

Parading them before reporters on Saturday in Dutse, the State Comptroller of NIS, Ahmad Dauda Bagari said they were intercepted on Friday at about 5:00 pm along Kazaure-Daura, on their way to Niger Republic enroute Libya to Europe.

According to him, the rescue followed a tip off and intelligence information about the movement of them from Kano to Niger Republic through Kazaure mounted a stop and search exercise at it’s check point at Tsamiyar Illu in Kazaure.

‘However, on sighting the presence of our personnel, the driver attempted to evade the interception by over-speeding and maneuvering around the check point, resulting in an accident, where some of the victims sustained minor injuries, but were treated at the Dutse General Hospital.”

Bagari maintained that the victims fell within the age bracket of between 22-37, noting that they were from Enugu, Ondo, Osun and Ogun states respectively.

He explained that the Comptroller General of the Service, Idris Isa Jere had directed the victims be handed over to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, (NIPTIP) for counseling.

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