The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons has arrested two suspected leaders of a human trafficking group that operates between Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire.
The suspects, 32-year-old Emmanuel Uzor Igwe and 30-year-old Ugochukwu Christian, were arrested in a mansion in Lugbe, Abuja, which served as their base.
According to a statement by NAPTIP’s spokesperson, Vincent Adekoye, the arrest followed a viral video posted by popular activist and social media influencer Martins Vincent Otse, also known as VeryDarkMan (VDM). In the video, victims who were stranded in Côte d’Ivoire mentioned the names of the suspects during a conversation with VDM.
VDM visited NAPTIP’s office in Abuja and promised to work with the agency to help rescue the victims.
During the raid, two young women believed to be victims were rescued from the house. NAPTIP said they had been taken from a state in eastern Nigeria with false promises of good jobs in a shopping mall in Côte d’Ivoire.
One of the victims shared her story: “They told me I would work in a big mall and be paid in foreign currency. But they took us to a shrine outside Abuja to swear an oath. I don’t know where it was—we traveled for about three hours from Gwagwalada.”
She also said the traffickers asked them to pay back 2.2 million CFA francs for the supposed job offer.
NAPTIP confirmed that this arrest is part of a bigger operation to break down human trafficking networks across West Africa.
The Director General of NAPTIP, Binta Adamu Bello, said the agency is fully committed to ending human trafficking in Nigeria.
She said, “The arrest of these two suspects is part of our planned efforts to stop traffickers in the country. They belong to a cross-border network, and we are glad we got them.
“I want to thank all our partners, especially VDM, for his strong support. The game is over for human traffickers. NAPTIP will continue to go after them unless they stop.”
Bello also said that talks have started with authorities in Côte d’Ivoire to rescue other victims still stuck there.
NAPTIP said investigations are still ongoing and the suspects will be taken to court if found guilty.
