NAPTIP Storms Abuja Airport, Arrests Five Suspected Human Traffickers, Frees 24 Victims

Michael Olugbode in Abuja

The Director General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Binta Bello, OON has led a high-powered special operation at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, during which 24 suspected victims of human trafficking were rescued and arrest of five suspected trafficking agents was made.

According to a statement on Wednesday by the agency’s National Press Officer, Vincent Adekoye, among the suspected human traffickers arrested at the airport was a retired Senior uniform Officer with one of the foremost Law Enforcement Agency in the country, who is alleged to be a prominent member of the trafficking syndicate operating within the South West region of Nigeria.

He said: “The well-planned action, which was hailed by other travelers at the airport, was a continuation of the newly unveiled anti-human trafficking efforts and onslaught against human trafficking by the Director General, targeting recruitment hubs, trafficking spots, and routes within Nigeria.”

Adekoye recalled that following reported increased cases of recruitment and trafficking of Nigerians for various forms of exploitation both within and outside the country, the Director General of NAPTIP had few months ago ordered a step up surveillance and monitoring of all parts of the country with greater attention on motor parks, waterways in the coaster States as well as International airports.

He disclosed that the latest raid followed a tip-off from concerned stakeholders and partners who alerted to an influx of suspected human trafficking victims at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja, and the unwholesome activities of some suspected traffickers.

Adekoye said at the end of nearly six hours of operation, the human trafficking activities were completely disrupted,leading to the arrest of five suspected traffickers and the rescue of 24 suspected victims.

He said the victims whose ages range between 15 years to 26 years were recruited from Kano, Kastina, Oyo, Ondo and Rivers States, and were heading to Iraq, Sudan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Afghanistan.

He noted that while a good number of the suspected victims could not communicate in any other language apart from their dialect, others do not even know the location of their intended country of destination.

He quoted one of the them to have said: “They told my mother that they are taking me to Europe, where I will work and earn dollars. My parent were happy and they allowed me to follow them.”

Adekoye said it was another mild drama at the Headquarters of NAPTIP as one of the victims vowed to ensure the prosecution of her father for deceiving her into embarking on the journey.

He revealed that the drama ensued after the Director General had personally counseled the suspected victims and enlightened them with a series of video clips of some stranded Nigerians and those on life support after being exploited at the destination countries.

The particular suspected victim was quoted to have said: “I struggled to hold my emotions while watching the video of those girls who were being maltreated and beaten by the traffickers. If that is what awaits me there, I will not go. I am seriously annoyed with my father because he deceived me. My father told me that his friend has a job for me at a supermarket in Baghdad. He did not tell me that it is in Iraq. I know that Iraq is not a good place to work for now to work due to the crisis there, but I did not know that Baghdad is in Iraq. I thank the DG and her officers for rescuing me, pls, I just need my passport, I want to go back to my town and settle.

“I will certainly make it here rather than suffer in another country”, the victim, whose father was among the traffickers arrested, added in her local dialect.

Speaking on the development, the Director General of NAPTIP, Binta Bello, expressed sadness over the activities of some suspected human traffickers and unregistered labour recruiters who have continued to deceive, recruit, and traffic Nigerians for various forms of exploitation.

She said: “I am impressed with the outcome of the operation today because we were able to arrest five suspected members of the trafficking gang that have been recruiting and trafficking our citizens to various tension-soaked countries, especially in the Middle East, for exploitation.

“We observed that the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport is becoming a comfort zone for these traffickers, and that is why we have decided to shift attention to this airport. We will sustain this raid until they stop this unpatriotic and illicit trade in human beings.

“I was amazed that a father, who is a retired Law Enforcement Officer of senior cadre, deceived his daughter and packaged her to be trafficked to Iraq for exploitation. This is incredibly unbelievable. Well, all of them will be thoroughly investigated, and they will face the law.

“I sincerely thank and appreciate the Director General of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport Manager, and all the wonderful personnel of the authority for their support for us at NAPTIP. I also appreciate the collaboration of the Department of State Service (DSS) operatives at the Airport, the Airport Security Personnel, Immigration Officers,, and airline operators for their support.

“Human trafficking is a visible national concern, and we all must be on the same page to turn the heat on the traffickers. Our resolve to ensure the protection of Nigerians from all forms of exploitation is firm and resolute”, the Director General of NAPTIP declared.

​  

  • Related Posts

    Dangote Reveals Plans to More Than Double 650,000 bpd Oil Refinery to 1.4 Million bpd

    Dangote Reveals Plans to More Than Double 650,000 bpd Oil Refinery to 1.4 Million bpd

    •Set to list 10% of company’s shares by next year 

    •S&P reports oil firm secured $4bn critical financing agreement in August

    •Says company pursuing Middle Eastern partners 

    •40,000 bpd upstream assets to begin production by end of October

    Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

    The 650,000 barrels per day Dangote Refinery is set to more than double its current refining capacity to about 1.4 million bpd, becoming the world’s largest refining facility and surpassing the 1.36 million bpd refinery in Jamnagar, India.

    President and Founder of the Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), Aliko Dangote, told S&P Global Commodity Insights, in an interview, that the management of the $20 billion refining and petrochemicals complex, is also thinking of altering its current business model and is set to list up to 10 per cent of its shares by next year.

    According to the 68-year-old founder, although the ambition to develop African energy independence is a “herculean task”, it remains a ‘labour of love’ since no government in Africa is willing to put its money into such humongous projects.

    “We have to build the refinery again, either here or somewhere else. But really, somewhere else is not possible because we’d have to go and spend so much building infrastructure, and we have the infrastructure already here,” Dangote said.

    In Nigeria alone, S&P Global Commodity Insights projects that net petrol imports could more than double from 2026-27 to hit almost 200,000 bpd by 2030, underpinned by economic development and rapid population growth.

    In July, Dangote unveiled plans to expand the refinery from its current 650,000 bpd to 700,000 bpd by the end of the year. Now, the target is to reach 1.4 million bd, with no specified date, it added.

    Engineers working at the Lekki complex say it was designed with room for growth, pointing out empty concrete plots capable of holding a second refining system. Now Nigeria’s largest power producer, the Dangote Group already generates twice the electricity it consumes, insuring its operations against chronic shortages that plague the rest of the country.

    Expanding could involve building a second refinery with the same configuration, one engineer said, potentially with the addition of a vacuum distillation unit to boost light ends yields, the S&P report said.

    The company is also working on potential linear alkylbenzene and base oils projects, and aims to grow its annual polypropylene capacity from 1 million mt to 1.5 million mt in the next few years, Dangote said.

    However, Dangote rejected a model that leaves Africa dependent on imported fuel, and said he remains determined to disrupt a market shaped by economies of scale. He is not optimistic for state-backed African projects, and warns that the continent will “really be in trouble” without huge private investment.

    “Most African governments will not have the capacity to build a refinery,” Dangote said, calling smaller projects like Angola’s new Cabinda facility “a drop in the ocean.”

    “In places where interest rates are 30 per cent, some countries 20 per cent, the cost of funding is high. And the infrastructure is zero,” he said.

    According to the report, the Nigerian company’s own maturing debt was recently seen as a key funding hurdle, before it secured a critical $4 billion financing agreement in August.

    To expand the refinery and develop a new petrochemicals project in China, Dangote is actively considering a strategic partnership with Middle Eastern companies, the group president remarked. “Our business concept is going to change. Now instead of being 100 per cent Dangote-owned, we’ll have other partners,” he said.

    Within the next year, Dangote disclosed that the refining business will list 5 per cent to 10 per cent of its shares on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, mirroring a playbook established by the group’s cement and sugar businesses.

    “We don’t want to keep more than 65 per cent to 70 per cent,” Dangote told S&P, explaining that shares will be offered incrementally subject to investor appetite and market depth.

    According to him, the door remains open for the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) to boost its stake after the state oil company trimmed its interest to 7.2 per cent,  but not before its next phase of growth is well underway.

    “I want to demonstrate what this refinery can do, then we can sit down and talk,” Dangote said. A close aide, who was not authorised to speak publicly, told S&P that the company would exert caution before inviting additional participation from NNPC.

    While there are bold expansion plans amid ongoing efforts to stabilise the refinery, it stated that the plant’s main petrol engine, the Residue Fluid Catalytic Cracker (RFCC), recently went offline in September shortly after a three-week turnaround in August, fueling rampant speculation over future downtime.

    A Vice President at Dangote responsible for overseeing refinery operations, Devakumar Edwin, said the RFCC restarted around October 7 and should soon be back at full capacity.

    “We have resolved most, not all, but most of the problems. And I think we’re looking for a window when we shut down for another month,” Dangote said, in a rare comment on maintenance plans.

    The month-long turnaround will involve shutting down the RFCC, but not the Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) and other secondary units. The entire refinery only requires a full turnaround every five years, Edwin said. Dangote said that the RFCC turnaround will be planned to avoid clashing with a seasonal demand peak towards the year-end, without providing dates.

    The company recently highlighted employee sabotage as a potential business risk, before its decision to fire 800 staff members sparked an acrimonious labor strike in September. After government-brokered remediation talks, the conglomerate has committed to find new employment for all dismissed workers, mostly outside the refining business.

    “We don’t have any worries with the unions,” Dangote said, sharing that the reorganisation was almost complete and deemed sufficient to abate recent tensions.

    As the refinery grows, the report said that early challenges sourcing crude oil only risk becoming more acute. However, Dangote welcomed a breakthrough deal with NNPC to alleviate supply concerns.

    Under a current “crude for naira” swap agreement, NNPC supplies Dangote with 14 crude oil cargoes, or sources the equivalent value of US dollars, in exchange for the same volume of petrol and gasoil to be supplied in the domestic currency.

    Besides, Dangote’s upstream assets in the Niger Delta, Oil Mining Lease 71 and 72, could soon provide another supply injection, with production expected to start this month and reach up to 40,000 bpd.

    Dangote remains interested in new upstream opportunities, which could add to an expanding asset base for the wider conglomerate. Recent investments include a major Namibian storage terminal, an Ethiopian fertilizer plant and a fleet of 4,000 CNG trucks, as well as a potential energy project in Senegal.

    ​  

    •Set to list 10% of company’s shares by next year  •S&P reports oil firm secured $4bn critical financing agreement in August •Says company pursuing Middle Eastern partners  •40,000 bpd upstream

    Yusuf Tuggar: Tinubu Pursuing Nigeria’s Strategic Autonomy Amid Trump’s Tariffs, China Ties

    Yusuf Tuggar: Tinubu Pursuing Nigeria’s Strategic Autonomy Amid Trump’s Tariffs, China Ties

    •Says  world must show respect in trade with Nigeria, other African nations 

    •Denies Christian persecution claims

    •Reiterates Nigeria will not accept deportees from US 

    •Says tariffs imposed by US do not markedly harm the country

    Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

    Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, yesterday maintained that President Bola Tinubu is pursuing  Nigeria’s strategic autonomy amid tariffs imposed by the United States as well as the country’s relationship with China.

    Besides, the minister noted that rich countries must show respect to Africa in their dealings with the continent, insisting that they should not approach trade with Africa as a game of ‘Minecraft’.

    Speaking at the Reuters NEXT Gulf summit in Abu Dhabi, Tuggar stated that the relationship should be based on mutual respect and the need for Africa to develop, stressing that the recent tariff increase by the US did not markedly impact the country.

    “Sometimes it’s like the game Minecraft: There’s oil, there’s gas, there’s critical minerals, rare earths. We put a bit of this, we invest in this. No, that’s not the way it goes. The engagement should be based on mutual respect, based on shared interests and based on the fact that Africa needs to develop. If it doesn’t develop, we continue to deal with irregular migration, with all these other challenges,” he argued.

    The minister stated that Nigeria remains a major power in Africa, highlighting the country’s huge internal market with a population of 230 million, expected to grow to 400 million by 2050, and its relationships with other major trading partners such as China, India and Brazil.

    Besides, he dismissed claims that President Donald Trump does not care about Africa, but stressed that the country continues to absorb the effect of the recent tariffs by the Trump administration as it extends trade with other countries.

    “ We have the right and the basis to engage with as many countries as possible to trade and our relationships are not based on ideological considerations, they’re based on interests, beginning with our national interests.

    “So we trade with the U.S., we trade with China, we trade with Brazil, we trade with India and our focus is not necessarily on one axis or the other, especially in a multipolar world,” he argued.

    Tuggar also referred to a recent surge in claims of a “Christian genocide” circulating online and amplified by some U.S. media figures, dismissing them as false.

    “One of our major challenges at the moment is the false narratives that are being created about Nigeria, this issue of religious persecution, Christians are being persecuted, which couldn’t be further from the truth, and it’s something that I think the investors need to come and see for themselves,” he said.

    The engagement with the West, he said, should be based on mutual respect,  shared interests and based on the fact that Africa needs to develop. The foreign minister also said there were no plans to accept deportees from the US, noting that Nigeria has gone beyond the stage.

    “ I think that ship has sailed. We made our point and I believe it’s no longer on the discussion table. We continue to enjoy a good relationship with the United States. We do not see the need to take in other nationals under duress from any country because we already have a population, like I said, of 230 million people.

    “So we’re not short of people and we, our focus is, as we move closer to becoming 400 million population, which we will be in the next 25 years, to train our workforce to tackle the issue of poverty, of unemployment, so that we have the right dependency ratio that would be able to sustain us as we move into the future.

    “So there are lots of opportunities. We can partner with all comers to tackle our challenges as well as to provide the opportunities for those that are working with us. It’s a really striking figure and as one gets older, you realise 25 years is a much shorter time than you originally might imagine”, he stated.

    On job creation, the minister explained that the first thing is for Nigeria to be able to feed itself,  and  will be creating lots of jobs as it works towards expanding agriculture and manufacturing and import substitution.

    Tuggar said that there has to be a mindset change by the world on how they interact with Africa, stressing that the continent has come of age.

    “As I said earlier there’s a tendency to take a Minecraft approach to Africa. It’s not a game and we are not infants. We know what is good for us, what’s in our interest so we don’t need to be protected.

    “We can protect ourselves when we’re dealing with China. China’s initiative is good for Africa. It is something that is already benefiting countries like Nigeria, the linkages, and we are looking towards achieving similar results with Europe, with the global gateway initiative, and of course other partners like the US, India, Brazil,” he stressed.

    ​  

    •Says  world must show respect in trade with Nigeria, other African nations  •Denies Christian persecution claims •Reiterates Nigeria will not accept deportees from US  •Says tariffs imposed by US do

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Business & Economy

    Ghanaian pension funds signal major shift toward private equity investment – Report 

    TETFund to launch electric campus shuttles in 12 tertiary institutions by November 

    AGF withdraws criminal charges against MTN Nigeria and CEO Karl Toriola in copyright case

    Presco Plc reports N27.67 billion profit in Q3 2025, declares second interim dividend

    With 140m Internet Subscribers, Nigeria’s Broadband Penetration Hits 48.8%, Less Than 70% Target

    To Ensure Balanced Development, FG Begins Procurement for Modernisation of Ports Outside Lagos

    Sophos Launches ITDR to Protect Identity-based Attacks

    Google, World Bank Collaborate on AI-powered Infrastructure

    Estonia, Finland Set to Build Nigeria’s Digital Infrastructure

    NECA Partners UNDP on Nigeria Jubilee Fellows Programme to Boost Graduate Employability

    BUILDMACEX to Showcase Modern Technology on Structural Design

    ITSSP to Discuss Implications of New Cybercrime Act, Policies

    Dangote announces plan to expand refinery capacity to 1.4 million b/d, set to become world’s largest  

    Nigerian Breweries records N129.4 billion nine-month 2025 pre-tax profit, trims quarterly loss 

    Nigeria’s Eurobonds: Long-term bond prices slip as investors grow cautious 

    International investors are frustrated with Taiwo Oyedele – Reports 

    U.S. government shutdown: How it impacts emerging market currencies

    55 Stories of Legacy and Impact at Leadway (Part 1)

    The $1.5 Trillion Secret: Why Africa’s payments evolution is a blueprint for the world 

    Lagos Angel Network and African Angel Academy launch Flagship Fellowship to Empower Nigeria’s Next Generation of Investors 

    Nigeria’s digital payment boom faces rising cybersecurity threats

    Nigeria’s digital payment boom faces rising cybersecurity threats

    Service review: OPay’s approach to secure payments for its over 60 million users 

    Singapore imposes 180-day renewal deadline for permanent residents 

    CBA Foundation rallies support for widows with 10th Anniversary Conference 

    MTN, Airtel, others face rising investment pressure as data consumption surges 

    FG launches “Federal Treasury Receipt (FTR)” to curb revenue leakages  

    The Blueprint for Wealth: TenTrade Africa Partner Conference Defines the Next Era of Partnership in CFD Online Trading 

    Gold sheds over 5% after strong rally, worst daily decline since 2020 

    Naira holds below N1,500/$ in unofficial market 

    ASUU suspends two-week warning strike 

    NCDC reports 172 deaths from Lassa fever in 21 states

    INEC: Imo, Lagos lead as over 8 million Nigerians begin voter registration  

    Speaker Abbas seeks Algeria visa-free deal for Nigerians to boost trade, research

    OpenAI launches ChatGPT Atlas, an AI-powered web browser to rival Google 

    FAAN targets full ISO certification for all Nigerian airports by Dec 2025 

    Shoprite Nigeria struggling under new owners as shelves go empty, stores close 

    Shoprite Nigeria struggling under new owners as shelves go empty, stores close