The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) Ilela border command in Sokoto State detained Rukaya Hassan, a 25-year-old lady, for attempting to smuggle two minor females across the border to the Niger Republic.
Mohammed Abdullahi, the Command Public Relations Officer (CPRO), revealed this in a statement released on Tuesday.
Abdullahi added that the victims had been turned over to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) for further investigation.
He stated that the action was a quick response to the incoming Comptroller-General of Immigration (CGI), Mrs Kemi Nandap’s, request to boost morale.
According to him, during interrogation, Hassan, a native of the Giribshi district of Sokoto, admitted that she did not know the two young girls she was travelling 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.
“She also claimed the woman requested her help to take the two girls to another woman in Niger named Amina Yunusa, who would provide them jobs in her restaurant in Niamey,” he said.
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Abdullahi further stated that upon further investigation, the two teens, Nabila Ibrahim, 17, and her sister Zainab Ibrahim, 15, revealed that they were from Zuru LGA in Kebbi State.
“They explained they were going to Niger to resume work at a certain restaurant whose owner they did not know, but their parents had approved of the trip.”
In response, the Comptroller of Immigration, Ilela Command, Tony Akuneme, who conducted the interviews, urged NAPTIP Sokoto State to take control of the two victims and the accused trafficker.
Akuneme emphasised his commitment to continuing the war against migrant smuggling (SOM) and human trafficking (TIPs) to support the CGI’s efforts.
