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The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has rescued no fewer than 121 victims of human trafficking across the country between February and October 2025.
The agency said the rescue operations were carried out through coordinated raids on hotels, residential apartments, and airports in several states, including Abuja, Kano, and Katsina. At least 19 suspected traffickers were also apprehended during the period.
According to official data obtained from NAPTIP, the agency has intensified its clampdown on criminal networks involved in trafficking young Nigerians, many of whom are lured with false promises of jobs in the Middle East.
In February, operatives intercepted 13 women aged between 19 and 39 years who were en route to Baghdad, Iraq, allegedly recruited by unregistered labour agents. The agency said the victims were being trafficked for sexual and labour exploitation. The same month, a hotel in the Kwali area of Abuja was sealed after investigations linked it to the illicit activity.
A similar operation was carried out in March at a hotel near the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, where seven suspected victims were rescued. They were reportedly being prepared for illegal travel to Iraq for exploitative purposes.
In July, the Katsina State Command arrested three suspects linked to a trafficking syndicate operating between the North and South. The suspects were apprehended in a hotel within the state capital while three young women, aged between 21 and 26, were rescued.
Further operations in August led to the interception of 25 women in Abuja believed to be heading to Saudi Arabia for forced labour. NAPTIP said the victims were rounded up outside a hotel in Wuse II, where they had gathered under the guise of a travel arrangement.
Also in August, 12 female victims aged between 15 and 50 were handed over to the agency by the Kano State Hisbah Board after a joint rescue operation in the state.
Later that month, 29 foreign nationals were freed from an apartment in Gwagwalada, Abuja, during another sting operation that led to the arrest of eight suspects.
On September 16, eight children suspected to have been trafficked from northern Nigeria to the South were rescued following a raid on an orphanage in Asaba, Delta State.
In a major airport operation on October 1, NAPTIP officers arrested five suspected traffickers and rescued 24 victims at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja. Among those arrested was a retired senior officer of a federal law enforcement agency alleged to be a key member of a trafficking ring operating in the South-West.
The following day, eight additional victims were rescued at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano, with two suspects taken into custody.
Speaking on the series of successful operations, NAPTIP Director-General, Prof. Binta Bello, said the agency’s renewed strategy is aimed at dismantling recruitment hubs and trafficking networks across the country.
She said, “We will continue this onslaught until traffickers understand that Nigeria is not a safe haven for their unpatriotic trade. Human trafficking is a national challenge that requires joint effort from every citizen.”
Nigeria, according to the U.S. Department of State, remains a source, transit, and destination country for victims of trafficking. Many victims, NAPTIP added, are deceived with offers of housekeeping and supermarket jobs abroad, which often turn out to be fronts for forced labour or sexual exploitation.
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