The victims were rescued by Ghana’s Economic and Organised Crimes Office (EOCO) following a raid on a suspected trafficking hub in Kumasi, according to Vincent Adekoye, Chief Press Officer, NAPTIP.
The Director-General of the National Agency for Prohibition in Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Binta Adamu Bello, has confirmed the rescue of 231 victims of human trafficking from Ghana.
She received the victims — comprising 227 males and four females aged between 15 and 18 — at the agency’s Lagos Command Office in Ikeja.
The victims were rescued by Ghana’s Economic and Organised Crimes Office (EOCO) following a raid on a suspected trafficking hub in Kumasi, according to Vincent Adekoye, Chief Press Officer, NAPTIP.
Bello, represented by NAPTIP’s Lagos State Commander, Mrs. Comfort Agboko, disclosed that the victims were trafficked for sexual exploitation and forced cybercrime. She expressed concern over Ghana and neighboring countries becoming hotspots for such crimes and announced plans to strengthen collaboration with law enforcement agencies across the region.
“We are seriously disturbed by this development and are working with partners in Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, and other West African nations to dismantle these criminal networks,” Bello stated.
“Our sustained operations in Nigeria have forced traffickers to relocate, but we will pursue them wherever they go.”
The victims were discovered in a residential estate in Oyarifa, Accra, where about 30 out of 50 houses were occupied by traffickers and their victims.
Following profiling, NAPTIP said it will provide medical care, psychosocial support, and skills training to assist their reintegration into society.
Bello warned that suspects among the returnees would face prosecution under Nigeria’s Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act, with a pledge to intensify efforts to dismantle trafficking syndicates operating across West Africa.
While she commended EOCO, the Nigerian Diaspora Commission, the Nigeria Immigration Service, and the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs for their collaboration in the rescue operation.
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