The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) has received 13 trafficked Nigerians, including 12 young women and a five-year-old boy, who were rescued from Ghana and Mali.
According to the Commission, 11 of the victims were trafficked to Ghana while two others were rescued from Mali. The returnees, whose ages ranged between 16 and 35 years, were received at the NiDCOM Liaison Office in Lagos.
A breakdown of the rescued individuals revealed that four victims hailed from Cross River State, four from Benue State, and one each from Imo and Oyo States. The two rescued from Mali are indigenes of Adamawa State.
Receiving the Ghana returnees on behalf of the Chairman/CEO of NiDCOM, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the Head of Lagos Liaison Office, Mr. Dipo Odebowale, disclosed that the victims claimed they were lured with fake job promises and subsequently forced into prostitution.
In a similar account, the two victims from Mali, who were received by the Head of Media and Public Relations at NiDCOM, Mr. Abdur-Rahman Balogun, said they suffered sexual exploitation, physical abuse, and emotional trauma at the hands of their traffickers.
Hon. Dabiri-Erewa, in her remarks, reassured the victims of the Commission’s commitment to supporting their reintegration and rehabilitation in collaboration with their respective state governments. She also reiterated the need for the prosecution and public exposure of human traffickers to curb the menace of modern-day slavery.
The rescued victims were subsequently handed over to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) for further profiling and necessary action.
