Francis Sardauna in Katsina
National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and other Related Matters (NAPTIP) yesterday handed 23 victims of human trafficking to Katsina State Government.
NAPTIP Zonal Commander, Mr. Shehu Umar, while handing over the victims who are mostly children to Governor Aminu Bello Masari at Government House, said the victims were intercepted at AYA Junction in Abuja by police on their way to Keffi, Nasarawa State on November 13.
He added that one Malam Akilu Limam Umar and two others have been apprehended in connection with the case and investigations revealed that the suspects had already departed with 40 other victims to Keffi.
He said: “I am here to hand over 23 victims of human trafficking rescued by police at AYA Junction in Abuja and handed over to NAPTIP headquarters in Abuja, from where the victims were brought to our command in Kano for onward reunion to their respective families.
“Sixteen of the victims are from Kaita, four are from Katsina town and three are from Niger Republic. So, the agency is intervening to see how the other victims would also be rescued and sent back to their parents.”
The NAPTIP zonal commander, however, said three other victims (girls) of human trafficking were intercepted by the agency at Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano on their way to Saudi Arabia for greener pastures.
Receiving the victims, Masari said: “What is frightening from what I have seen here is that some of them (victims) are not more than six or eight years. It is curious how their parents could have abandoned them.”
The governor, who was visibly disturbed by the scenario, called on relevant authorities to checkmate the menace of human trafficking and other related issues bedeviling the country.
