The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and other Related Matters (NAPTIP), Kano Zonal Command, said it had rescued 57 victims of human trafficking in Katsina State.
The NAPTIP Zonal Commander, Mr Shehu Umar, said in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kano, on Tuesday, that the latest arrest raised the number of victims rescued this year to 263.
He said the 57 victims were intercepted on Saturday, October 8.
“The victims, in two separate groups, were intercepted by the Nigeria Immigration Service in Katsina State along Kongolom border in Mai’adua local area on their way to Libya.”
He said following the receipt of the report, the Zonal Command went to Katsina and rescued the victims whose traffickers had since escaped.
Umar said preliminary investigation had shown that the victims paid between N5, 000 and N250, 000 as fares to their traffickers to facilitate the journey to Libya.
He disclosed that the victims, aged between 12 and 38, had no travelling documents and were from Abia, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Enugu, Imo, Kogi, Lagos and Ondo states.
According to him, the victims would be reunited with their families as soon as investigation was completed.