NAPTIP Repatriates 12 Trafficking Victims from Ghana – Warns Against Fake Job Syndicates
Korede Abdullah 
LAGOS, Nigeria – The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons has repatriated 12 victims of human trafficking from Ghana, exposing what officials described as a growing network of cross-border traffickers preying on vulnerable Nigerians with false promises of lucrative jobs abroad.
The Lagos State Command of NAPTIP, in a statement issued on Tuesday, said the victims were rescued through joint operations involving the Nigerian High Commission in Ghana and other law enforcement agencies.
The returnees comprised nine teenage girls aged between 17 and 19, two 22-year-old men, and a baby. According to the agency, preliminary investigations revealed that the victims were deceived and trafficked to Ghana under the guise of employment opportunities but were later forced into prostitution and cybercrime activities after arriving in the country.
Receiving the victims in Lagos, the Zonal Commander of NAPTIP, Mrs. Agboko Comfort, represented by the Head of the International and Intelligence Cooperation Unit, Omolara Ibrahim, urged Nigerians, especially youths, to be wary of traffickers and suspicious overseas job offers.
She described the rescue as part of sustained efforts to dismantle human trafficking syndicates operating across West African borders.
Comfort commended partner agencies for ensuring “the proper referral/handover of the returnees to the agency,” while assuring that those responsible for the crime would not escape justice.
“She also assured that the agency would go after their trafficker and prosecute them,” the statement added. The agency warned that traffickers often target young people facing economic hardship, luring them into dangerous situations that expose them to sexual exploitation, forced labour, cybercrime, and abuse.
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Edino Chubiyo Cornelius 
Otamere Gladness 