- The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Lagos Command, has successfully taken custody of 12 human trafficking victims brought back from Ghana following a major cross-border operation.
- The rescued group consists of nine teenage females aged between 17 and 19, two 22-year-old males, and an infant, all of whom were lured to Ghana with false promises of high-paying jobs before being forced into prostitution and cybercrime.
- In a related breakthrough, troops of the Nigerian Army blocked an active trafficking ring along the Seme border corridor in Badagry, rescuing two additional young women and arresting three key handlers.
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons has received 12 victims of human trafficking repatriated from Ghana as part of its ongoing trans-border collaboration with state and non-state actors in the fight against human trafficking.
Eko Hot Blog reports that in an official administrative brief released by the Lagos Command on Tuesday, May 26, 2026, the agency disclosed that the successful rescue was achieved through highly coordinated intelligence sharing involving the Nigerian High Commission in Accra, the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), and Ghanaian law enforcement syndicates.
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Preliminary investigation revealed that the victims were recruited, deceived, and trafficked to Ghana with a fake promise of a lucrative job by yet to be identified traffickers, but were forced into prostitution and cybercrime in Ghana.
Receiving the returnees at the zonal headquarters, the Zonal Commander of NAPTIP Lagos, Mrs Agboko Comfort, represented by the Head of the International and Intelligence Cooperation Unit, Omolara Ibrahim, commended the field operators and foreign missions for executing a seamless hand-over.
She urged the young survivors to view their safe return as a vital structural baseline to rebuild their lives, assuring them that NAPTIP’s specialized legal unit is actively tracking the syndicates responsible for their exploitation to ensure swift prosecution.
In a related development, troops of the Nigerian Army have disrupted trafficking activities in Ibereko, Badagry, Lagos State, arresting suspects and rescuing two female victims during a patrol along the Seme border axis.
Counter-trafficking officials confirmed that frontline infantry units intercepted three major operational ringleaders while they were actively moving the two young women toward the international boundary line.
The Nigerian Army reports that preliminary investigations reveal that the trio was intercepted while conveying the two victims to the Seme Border, where they were to be handed over to another contact in their chain of operation, with plans to move the girls to Ghana.
Military administrators confirmed that while three suspects are currently in secure custody undergoing intensive interrogation, a fourth highly placed cross-border operative managed to evade tactical encirclement and remains at large.
The rescued women from the Badagry intercept have been formally transferred to NAPTIP care facilities for immediate psychosocial counseling, medical evaluation, and long-term vocational rehabilitation.
