How NAPTIP Rescued 25 Trafficked Nigerian Women Enroute To Saudi Arabia

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has rescued 25 women from a suspected human trafficking operation in Abuja.

In a statement on Tuesday, the NAPTIP spokesman, Vincent Adekoye, said the women believed to be victims of labour exploitation were intercepted in Abuja while being prepared for a trip to Saudi Arabia.

He revealed that the women, aged between 17 and 43, had been lured from Kano, Jigawa, and Katsina States with promises of well-paying jobs as domestic workers abroad.

According to him, the victims were found outside a hotel in Wuse II, Abuja, where they had gathered to meet their trafficker.

One of the women explained that recruiters had approached her family in their village with assurances of a lucrative job in Saudi Arabia.

“Some people came to our village and told my parent that they would assist me to travel abroad to work as a house help in Saudi Arabia. They assured us that the job there will pay us very well, and we will be able to come and take care of our parents and families.

“They asked us to come and wait for them here so that they will give us the travel document and the necessary instructions on how to go.

“They have not given us any documents, like an International Passport and a visa, and we are worried that neither of them is here to attend to us as they promised,” the victims reportedly said.

Many of the women admitted it was their first time in Abuja, and they were left stranded when their supposed handlers failed to show up.

NAPTIP’s Director General, Binta Bello, condemned the traffickers’ activities and raised alarm over Abuja increasingly being used as a hub for human trafficking networks.

She said, “The sad aspect of the whole thing is that they (unsuspecting victims) excitedly jumped at the offer from the traffickers without knowing the harrowing experience and the level of exploitation that awaited them in the destination country.

“Let me use this medium to call on the umbrella body of the Travel Agency, the Association of Recruiters, Licensed Placement Agency of Nigeria, and other regulatory bodies, to rise to their responsibility of regulating the activities of their members.”

KanyiDaily also reported how a two-year-old girl was rescued by the NAPTIP after being trafficked from Abuja to Aba in February 2025.