TheCable

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) says three victims of human trafficking have been rescued in Jigawa.

Samson Agadi, NIS comptroller in the state, spoke on Wednesday during a media conference in Dutse, the capital of Jigawa.

Agadi said the operatives arrested one Mustapha Zulqarlaini, a suspected trafficker.

He said the victims who were indigenes of Kogi were being trafficked to Libya through Niger Republic when they were intercepted.

“Upon their interception and subsequent profiling and interrogation, the victims confessed that they were on their way to Daura area of Katsina state,” NAN quoted Agada as saying.

“They will then cross the Nigerian border to Niger Republic, for their onward destination to Libya.

“Upon further interrogation, they confessed that have a sister who is residing in Libya they intended to join her.

“The suspected trafficker, Zulqarlaini, claimed to be an uncle of the victims and confirmed that he facilitated their journey from Kano to Daura.”

The NIS comptroller named the victims as  Ahmed Ibrahim, Ibrahim Rafatu and Nafisat Jibril.

He said parents of the victims told the NIS they gave their consent for their children to be trafficked as a result of “abject poverty”.

“They are victims of human trafficking, and as such we are handing them over to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP),” he added.