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NAPTIP rescues 121 trafficked victims
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The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons has rescued at least 121 people in a string of raids on hotels, apartments and airports since February 2025.
These include syndicates funnelling young Nigerians primarily to the Middle East, a collation of the agency’s data reviewed by Sunday PUNCH shows.
The tally includes operations in Abuja, Katsina and Kano, which led to at least 19 arrests.
In February, operatives intercepted 13 girls suspected to be victims of human trafficking en route to Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, for sexual and labour exploitation.
The girls, aged between 19 and 39, were allegedly recruited by unregistered labour recruiters suspected to be agents of a more prominent criminal labour recruiting gang operating between Nigeria and some Middle East countries.
During the raid, NAPTIP said it sealed a popular three-star hotel in Kwali community, in the Kwali Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
In March, NAPTIP raided a well-known hotel in Zamaru, near the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, where it rescued seven suspected victims of human trafficking.
The victims were reportedly being prepared for illegal migration to Baghdad, Iraq, where they were likely to face exploitation.
The agency’s Katsina State Command, in July, arrested three suspected members of an inter-state human trafficking syndicate that specialises in the recruitment, harbouring, and trafficking of young girls from other parts of the country to the North for sexual exploitation.
They were arrested inside a prominent hotel located in Katsina township, where three victims were rescued. Two of the victims were from Benue State and one from Rivers State.
Their ages ranged from 21 to 26.
On August 18, NAPTIP said it intercepted 25 women suspected to be victims of labour exploitation en route to Saudi Arabia.
The victims were picked up in front of a popular hotel in the high-end area of Wuse II, Abuja, where they had gathered, awaiting their trafficker. The raid came just as a popular travel agency was being used for its part in the recruitment of trafficking victims.
On August 31, the agency took custody of 12 rescued victims of human trafficking, all of whom are female and aged between 15 and 50.
NAPTIP’s Kano Zonal Commander, Abdullahi Babale, received the victims from the Kano State Hisbah Board, which carried out the rescue operation in collaboration with the agency.
Another raid on an apartment complex in Abuja’s Gwagwalada area freed 29 foreign victims, where eight suspects were arrested.
On September 16, NAPTIP rescued eight children suspected of having been stolen from northern states and trafficked to the South.
This followed a raid on a popular orphanage in the Delta State capital, Asaba.
In another airport raid on October 1, NAPTIP arrested five suspected traffickers and rescued 24 in a special operation at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
Among those arrested was a retired senior officer from one of Nigeria’s leading law enforcement agencies, alleged to be a key member of a trafficking syndicate operating in the South-West.
A day earlier, NAPTIP operatives in Kano State rescued eight victims of human trafficking and arrested two suspects.
NAPTIP’s operatives intercepted the victims at the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport.
Nigeria remains a source, transit and destination country for trafficking, according to the U.S. State Department.
Iran’s foreign ministry on Monday said it was not currently involved in negotiations with the United States, despite a halt in recent fighting between the two sides.
“Mediators may convey messages from the American side to us regarding current developments in the region. But at present, we are not engaged in any negotiations with the United States,” ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said at a weekly press briefing.
“Claims that Iran has requested negotiations are fabrications that the other side circulates from time to time,” he added.
Hostilities resumed between Iran and the United States earlier this month after diplomatic efforts collapsed amid an impasse regarding the Strait of Hormuz.
Fighting has nonetheless paused since early Saturday, following 13 days of exchanges of fire between the two sides.
Baqaei criticised the United States, saying its conduct in recent years has “resembled that of a mafia gang that adheres to no rules or laws”.
“So long as such behaviour by the United States continues, we cannot be hopeful about the emergence of a reasonable process,” he added.
Iran insists on retaining control over the management of the Strait of Hormuz, including the collection of service fees, while keeping Oman involved as a coastal state.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have turned back multiple vessels in recent days, including six earlier on Monday, that attempted to transit the strait outside the route designated by the Islamic republic.
On Monday, Baqaei reiterated that Washington had nothing to do with recent talks with Oman over the administration of the Strait of Hormuz.
“These talks have no connection with the United States. They are a bilateral matter between Iran and Oman, and they are continuing,” Baqaei said, adding that the waterway “remains closed”.
The Kebbi State Police Command has confirmed the abduction of
a Kebbi State High Court judge, Justice Faruku Hassan Bunza after suspected Bandits invaded his residence in Bunza Local Government Area.
Confirming the abduction, the State Police spokesperson, SP Bashir Usman, said the judge was taken from his residence around midnight.
“I can confirm that Hon. Justice Faruku Hassan Bunza was abducted from his residence in Bunza around midnight,” Usman said.
He disclosed that the Commissioner of Police, CP Umar Muhammad Hadejia, had immediately deployed tactical and intelligence teams to track the abductors and rescue the judge.
“Our personnel are combing identified locations, including forest hideouts, to ensure that the judge is rescued alive and unharmed,” the police spokesperson said.
NATIONAL WAVES learnt that the gunmen stormed the judge’s home along Zogirma Road at about 12:00 a.m. on Sunday, shortly after he returned from a trip to Sokoto State.
The attackers fired sporadically into the air before whisking the judge away. No member of his household was kidnapped or molested during the operation. He had just returned from Sokoto when the gunmen invaded his residence and abducted him,” a source squealed
A family member who craved for anonymity said “Immediately the incident happened, we alerted the relevant authorities, including the leadership of the High Court,”
News
Confusion in Anambra as students feared trapped in private hostel near Oko Polytechnic collapses
A three-storey private hostel warehousing students of Federal Polytechnic Oko has collapsed in Amokpala, Oko, in Orumba North Local Government Area of Anambra State, leaving a yet-to-be-identified number of occupants trapped beneath the rubble.
The building, identified as Elite Five Star Lodge, reportedly caved in late Sunday night.
The collapse of the hostel located near Tonimas Filling Station in the Oko Polytechnic community sparked panic among residents and students as cries for help were reportedly heard from beneath the debris.
Emergency responders launched rescue operations, with personnel from the Anambra State Police Command, the Anambra State Fire Service, the Anambra State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), and other security and emergency agencies deployed to the scene.
Several injured victims have so far been rescued from the collapsed structure and taken to a hospital in Oko for medical treatment.
Search-and-rescue teams, however, continue efforts to reach other occupants believed to be trapped under the debris.
Authorities said the exact number of casualties and those trapped could not be immediately confirmed, as rescue operations were still ongoing at the time of filing this report.
Confirming the incident, the spokesperson for the Anambra State Police Command, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, said a police-led joint security team swiftly secured the area and coordinated emergency response efforts to prevent further loss of life.
Ikenga urged residents to remain calm, refrain from spreading unverified information, and stay away from the scene to allow rescue workers unhindered access to carry out their operations.
He added that the police command would provide further updates as more verified information becomes available.
We don’t have current negotiations with US — Iran
Police Finally Confirm Abduction Of Kebbi High Court Judge By Bandits
Confusion in Anambra as students feared trapped in private hostel near Oko Polytechnic collapses
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