The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons has taken custody of 12 victims of human trafficking repatriated from Ghana as part of ongoing cross-border efforts to dismantle trafficking networks operating between West African countries.
The Lagos Command of the agency disclosed this in a statement shared on Tuesday, noting that the victims were rescued through coordinated operations involving the Nigerian High Commission in Ghana and other partner security agencies.
According to the statement, the returnees include nine females aged between 17 and 19, two males aged 22, and a baby.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the victims were allegedly recruited from Nigeria with false promises of lucrative employment abroad, only to be trafficked into Ghana where they were forced into prostitution and cybercrime activities.
Receiving the victims, the Zonal Commander of NAPTIP Lagos, Mrs Agboko Comfort, represented by the Head of International and Intelligence Cooperation Unit, Omolara Ibrahim, urged them to see their return as an opportunity to rebuild their lives and reintegrate into society.
She commended partner agencies for their role in ensuring the safe repatriation and proper handover of the victims to the agency.
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The agency further assured that efforts were underway to identify, track, and prosecute individuals behind the trafficking network, stressing its commitment to dismantling transnational criminal syndicates.
In a related development, troops of the Nigerian Army also disrupted a separate trafficking attempt in Ibereko, Badagry area of Lagos State, rescuing two female victims during a patrol along the Seme border axis.
Military authorities said the suspects were intercepted while transporting the victims toward the border, where they were expected to be handed over to another contact in an established trafficking chain with plans to move them onward to Ghana.
According to the Army, preliminary findings showed that the operation was part of a coordinated network spanning multiple locations, though one suspect reportedly remains at large as investigations continue.
Security agencies have reiterated their commitment to strengthening border surveillance and intensifying operations against human trafficking across Nigeria’s land and maritime corridors.