Immigration officers at the Yauri border in Kebbi State say they have thwarted the trafficking of two young women and a boy.
They were reportedly intercepted and rescued at Ilela border in Sokoto State on their way to Libya, the immigration personnel disclosed.
Kebbi’s immigration Comptroller, Rabi Bashir Nuhu, gave the names of the two women as Rosabeth Udi (24) and Benita Udaje (19) from Delta State, while the boy, Yako Jiji, from Benue State.
They were being transported to Libya by two men and a woman who claimed to be the victims’ uncles and aunt when immigration officials at the border in Kebbi intercepted them, Nuhu told newsmen during briefing.
The victims have since been handed over to NAPTIP.
Nuhu said that upon interrogation the victims said they were directed by the traffickers in Libya to contact some men upon their arrival in Sokoto.
She said, “Our suspicion is that the girls are being recruited by the traffickers for prostitution and the boy for organ harvesting. The girls were directed to do HIV and hepatitis tests. This is usually the procedure for those being lured for prostitution in Libya.”
“The more the command makes efforts to intercept them, the more they use other routes to get to Libya.”
While receiving the victims, NAPTIP’s Head of Operation, Sadiq Atiku, said they would ramp up investigation to arrest the traffickers. He assured that the victims would be reunited with their families after undergoing rehabilitation.