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A commercial vehicle from Kano carrying victims of human trafficking to Europe through Niger, Libya has sumersaulted in Jigawa State, with nine of its passengers sustaining various degrees of injury.
Comptroller of the Nigeria Immigration Service in the state, Ahmed Dauda Bagari disclosed this while parading the victims at the agency’s command headquarter in Dutse, said the accident occurred at Tsamiyar Ilu village in Kazaure Local Government Area, while the driver was trying to escape arrest by men of agency at check point.
Bagari explained that “the personnel of Nigeria Immigration Service, after a tip-off/credible intelligence about the movement of the victims from Kano to Niger through Kazaure, mounted a stop and search exercise at our check point at Tsamiyar Ilu, in Kazaure Local Government Area of Jigawa State.
According to him, “On sighting the presence of our personnel, the driver attempted to evade interception by over-speeding and manoeuvring around the check point, resulting into an accident where some of the victims sustained minor injuries.”
He said the Nigerian Immigration Service has rescued all nine victims and they were all been treated at General Hospital Dutse.
Bagari explained that “The victims were intercepted on Friday 7th October, 2022 at about 1700hrs in Kazaure LGA as they were about leaving the country to Europe via Niger Republic and Libya”.
He said the victims were between the age of 22 to 37 and eight were female and only one male. “They hail from Ogun, Ondo, Osun and Enugu states”.
Bagari said the driver had been arrested and handed over to police.
“As directed by the Comptroller-General, Idris Isa Jere, we are handing them over to National Agency for the Prohibition of Human Trafficking (NAPTI) for further action.”
