The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Jigawa Command, has rescued 147 victims of human trafficking across the state in 2025.
According to the agency, the victims had been reunited with their families after they were given comprehensive counselling.
The Jigawa State Commander, Abdulkadir Turajo, disclosed this yesterday while speaking with journalists in Dutse.
He disclosed that the command also secured the conviction of a 30-year-old Nigerien, Hassan Alhassan, from Garin Idi Village in the Niger Republic.
The commander explained that Alhassan was convicted for attempting to traffic a male victim from Kano State through the Maigatari border in Jigawa, en route to Libya via Magarya in Zinder State, Niger Republic.
Turajo noted that the command has also recorded 37 trafficking cases and 11 border-area interceptions and referrals by the Nigeria Immigration Service, involving a total of 97 persons.
He added that the command conducted 49 sensitisation campaigns in trafficking-endemic communities across the state, targeting schools, markets, mosques, churches and motor parks, as part of efforts to curb human trafficking and raise public awareness.
“Jigawa is a source and one of the major international routes of human trafficking to Europe and Middle East through Niger and the Chad-Sudan-Saudi Arabia axis.
“The state is also known for high records of cases of sexual abuses and is a major source for internal trafficking for labour.
It is therefore pertinent that all hands must be on deck to support NAPTIP Jigawa command in order to effectively tackle and address the problems in the state,” Turajo said.
The commander described human trafficking as one of the world’s most dangerous and notorious crimes, posing a serious threat to national security and public safety.
He noted that the crime fuels public sector corruption and irregular migration, undermines human capital development, and contributes to social breakdown and exclusion.
According to him, human trafficking also leads to a shortage of capable manpower, human degradation, abuse of human rights, the spread of diseases, and the tarnishing of a nation’s image.
He added that it often expands into broader forms of organised crime, including drug trafficking, armed conflicts, terrorism, kidnapping, money laundering and other related financial crimes.
The commander further explained that NAPTIP serves as the Federal Government’s primary law enforcement agency mandated to combat human trafficking in Nigeria.
“The core mandates of the agency as enforcement and administration;coordination of all laws pertaining trafficking in persons, prevention and eradication of human trafficking, establishment of preventive and regulatory machinery, investigation of all cases of trafficking in persons, protection and assistance to trafficked persons.
“Others are; awareness and education, international cooperation, legal compliance with bilateral and multilateral treaties and conventions adopted by Nigeria, collaboration, monitoring trans-border activities related to trafficking in persons and enforcement of 2019 control of activities regulations,” Turajo stressed.
While appreciating the Jigawa State Government and its agencies for their support and cooperation, the commander lauded the commitment, interest and sustained backing of Governor Umar Namadi to the agency’s fight against human trafficking in the state.
