The Nigerian Immigration Service operatives at the Ilela border command in Sokoto have arrested a 25-year-old woman, Rukaya Hassan, who tried to traffic two underage girls across the border to Niger Republic.
Command Public Relations Officer, Mohammed Abdullahi, announced this in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja. He said the victims have been handed over to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons for further investigation.
The operation was a swift response to the new Comptroller of Immigration, Mrs. Kemi Nandap’s morale-boosting charge. During interrogation, Rukaya Hassan, who lives in the Giribshi area of Sokoto, confessed she did not know the two young girls she was traveling with to Niger.
“She claimed they were handed over to her by a woman in Sokoto named Maman Adnan, who paid for their transport to Niger,” Abdullahi stated. “She also said the woman asked her to take the two girls to another woman in Niger named Amina Yunusa, who would give them jobs in her restaurant in Niamey.”
The two teenagers, Nabila Ibrahim, 17, and her sister Zainab Ibrahim, 15, are from Zuru LGA in Kebbi State. “They said they were going to Niger to start work in a restaurant, with their parents’ approval, but they didn’t know the restaurant owner,” Abdullahi added.
The Comptroller of Immigration, Ilela Command, Tony Akuneme, conducted the interviews and invited NAPTIP in Sokoto State to take charge of the two victims and the suspected trafficker for further investigation and possible prosecution.
Akuneme emphasized the commitment to sustaining the campaign against smuggling migrants and trafficking persons, aligning with the Comptroller General’s efforts. He quoted the Immigration CG as thanking the officers and men of the Ilela border command for their diligence and promised to reward outstanding personnel.
