Immigration Rescues 189 Human Trafficking Victims At Seme Border
BY CHINYERE OBIORA – Mother luck smiled on about 189 suspected human trafficking victims as the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) Border Patrol Command at Seme successfully rescued them from criminal vendors and agents.
Following the NIS’ interception, the victims were handed over to officials of the Lagos Zonal Office, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) for necessary processing.
Acting Comptroller-General of Immigration, Isah Jere Idris, who spoke at the Zone A headquarters of the NIS in Lagos, said among those rescued are 115 girls and 74 boys aged between 15 and 20 years.
Idris disclosed that while 92 of the victims were intercepted on Saturday, January 22, 2022, another batch of 97 was picked by vigilant NIS operatives on Monday, January 24, 2022.
According to the Immigration boss, the victims claimed that they were heading to the Emerald University in the Benin Republic to commence a degree programme.
He however said the victims’ claims that an unnamed faith-based organisation, operating in Imo and Abia states, had offered them provisional admission into the school are being investigated by relevant authorities.
