The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Oyo State Command, said it arrested five suspected human traffickers, who specialised in luring unsuspecting victims in Ibadan.
State Comptroller, Mohammed Umar, said this yesterday while handing over the suspects to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) in Ibadan.
Umar said the NIS and NAPTIP in the state had been collaborating to fight against human trafficking and smuggling of migrants.
He said the NIS received a request from NAPTIP to jointly carryout a raid on the hideout of the suspects upon discovery of their illegal activities, adding that the agencies initially arrested 10 suspects.
“Out of the 10 suspects arrested, we are able to establish that five are members of syndicates that are expert in luring mostly Ghanaians in disguise of bringing them to Nigeria, specifically Ibadan, prepare them for a package to enable them travel to Canada.”
“Because of that enticement, these victims submitted themselves and came to Ibadan, only to find out that what was sold to them was a scam.
“The victims came to Ibadan with the intention of going to Canada only to be handed down with business in the form of network marketing.
“Because the victims felt they have been deceived and most likely could lead to force labour, which is not their intention of coming to Nigeria, they complained to NAPTIP.
“NAPTIP being alive to its responsibility, approached us and we jointly carried out the raid and now we are handing over five suspects to them,” Umar said.
Receiving the suspects, the Head of NAPTIP in Oyo State, Augustine Akanya, said the that the agency would carry out diligent investigation on the suspects and would be prosecuted, if found guilty.