NAPTIP rescues 11 girls, arrests four suspected traffickers

Operatives of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) and the Nigeria Police Force in a joint raid have arrested four suspected traffickers and rescued 11 girls in the Pipeline, Kubwa area of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
Our correspondent learnt that the human trafficking gang was busted on Thursday evening in a hotel where the girls were harboured and the facility was thereafter sealed.
According to NAPTIP in a release on Friday, the hotel, Thales Guest House, also known as 33, was reported to be a criminal hideout for under-aged and exploitative prostitution.
The agency said it mounted an intense surveillance on the facility and arrested the four suspects identified as 32-year-old Onyinyechi Osuoha, Nkechi Chukwuma, 37; Sandra Chi, 32; and Favour James, 27.
Our correspondent learnt that preliminary investigations showed that the suspects allegedly lured the girls, who are under 18, from various parts of the country with promises of employment in the FCT.
However, the syndicate, upon the arrival of the girls in Abuja, allegedly turned them to sex workers at the hotel.
It was said that the suspects collected the money paid to the girls by men.
In the release by the agency’s Head of Press and Public Relations, Mrs Nneka Aniagoh, the raid was carried out in accordance with sections 43 and 52 of the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act 2015, which authorised NAPTIP to enter, search and seal properties suspected to be used for human trafficking purposes.
She said, “Our operatives and the police in a joint raid busted the human trafficking gang on Thursday night. Eleven girls were rescued while four suspects were arrested. The hotel where the girls were harboured; Thales Guest House, was also sealed.”
The NAPTIP Director-General, Mrs. Julie Okah-Donli, said the agency was monitoring operators of brothels who used under-aged girls as prostitutes, warning them to desist from such an illegal act.
She said, “We enjoin members of the public to report such brothels to NAPTIP, as they are not only an abuse of human rights but also a criminal act that is punishable by law. Young girls should either be in school or learn skills that will enable them to be empowered as functional members of the society. They should not be holed up in brothels or be sexually exploited by human traffickers.
“These suspects will be charged to court and prosecuted accordingly, on completion of investigations.”