The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and Other Related Matters (NAPTIP), Kano Zone, said it had rescued no fewer than 69 victims of human trafficking from January to date.
The NAPTIP Zonal Commander in Kano, Mr Shehu Umar, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kano on Friday.
Umar said out of the figure, 32 were males, while 37 were females.
He said the command had recorded no fewer than 32 cases including child labour, unlawful canal knowledge, wandering in the street by minors, child abuse and illegal entry for greener pasture, among others.
He said the command was able to arrest 33 suspects out of whom 23 were males, while 10 were females.
The zonal commander also said that the command had recorded one case of internal trafficking and eight cases of external trafficking as well as secured one conviction during the period under review.
“The defendant, one Yunusa Umar, 28, was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment on April 12, without option of fine and was ordered to also pay N1 million.
He commended the Katsina State Police Command for intercepting 22 victims and one suspect who led them, at Kwando area in Katsina metropolis on April 20.
He said all 22 victims and the suspect were now in their custody while investigation had commenced.
“The Katsina State Police command handed them over to us on Thursday and they include nine males and 13 females.
He said based on the preliminary Investigation, the victims and their leader were on their way to Niger Republic and from there to Morocco.
According to him, each of the victims paid N120, 000 and above as charges to their traffickers.
He said the command would continue to work in collaboration with other security agencies with a view to checking the ugly trend. (NAN).
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