No fewer than eight Ghanian ladies were on Monday, October 8 arrested by the officials of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) for attempted human trafficking at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
The Ghanaians had attempted to pass through Lagos Airport to Kuwait where they hoped to cross to Europe for prostitution before they were intercepted.
The ladies were booked on Egypt Air out of Lagos to Cairo, from where they had hoped to transit to Kuwait before departing to Europe.
The officials of immigration at the command suspected the ladies immediately they approached the immigration counters for processes and queried them on their mission out of the continent through Nigeria especially when they were in possession of Ghanaian international passports.
An Immigration source noted that on questioning, the ladies who were between the ages of 20 to 25, they confessed that they had wanted to use Nigeria as a transit point to Europe.
The Source stated that the ladies also confessed that they had entered Nigeria through road via Togo and Benin Republic, pointing out that their sponsors had advised them to use Nigeria as a transit point to Europe, which failed with their arrest.
The source gave the names of some of the ladies arrested to include; Tordro Gifty; 22, Odurowaa Millicent; 20, Abotsi Gift, 24 and Bisuat Fustina, 25.
Upon their arrest, it was gathered that the ladies were handed over to officials of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking In Persons (NAPTIP) who drove them out of the airport.
The source said: “When our officers interrogated the ladies, they discovered that they had no genuine reasons for attempting to use Nigeria as a transit point to Europe. So, this led to further query from our officers. When they were asked, they confessed to the fact that they were actually crossing to Europe, but had hoped to land in Kuwait first.
“During interrogation, it was discovered that the ladies in question actually entered Nigeria through road from Ghana to Togo and then to Benin Republic. But, the fact is that since the current Comptroller-General of Immigration, Mr. Muhammed Babandede came onboard, he has increased vigilance at not just the Lagos Airport, but at other border posts across the country.
“This is not the first time we are arresting human traffickers at this airport and we will continue to increase our surveillance to ensure that unscrupulous elements don’t use our command to perpetuate their criminal activities.”
It was however not clear if the apprehended ladies had been returned to Ghana for further prosecution or were still in the country.
