Lagos police say they have foiled a suspected case of human trafficking in Lagos, rescuing three young girls after stopping a commercial motorcycle carrying them in Badagry.
Force Public Relations Officer Ani Iniedu disclosed the case in a statement on his X account Friday. He said officers on routine patrol stopped a commercial motorcycle carrying the girls along Owode Apa Road. “Interrogation revealed the girls were victims of human trafficking,” he said.
The girls have been debriefed, and police are tracking the suspected traffickers. The State Criminal Investigation Department in Panti, Yaba, is handling the case. The statement did not give the girls’ ages, where they were headed or whether anyone had been arrested.
What is still unknown
Much remains unclear. Police have not said whether the motorcycle rider is being treated as a suspect or a witness, who the girls were traveling with or who was meant to receive them. The statement also does not say where the girls came from or whether their families have been contacted. Police have also not named any suspects.
Police did not say whether the girls had been offered jobs or travel, a common pretext in trafficking cases, or whether they knew where they were being taken.
A familiar corridor
Badagry, a coastal town in western Lagos, is a gateway to Benin Republic. It sits near the Seme border, which the Nigeria Immigration Service has described as a notorious route for human trafficking. In February, the service said it arrested a 24-year-old suspected trafficker and rescued six young women along the Seme axis.
Other agencies have reported similar cases. In May, troops on patrol in Ibereko, Badagry, arrested two suspected traffickers and rescued two women, NAPTIP said. The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps said it rescued 24 victims, including pregnant women and a toddler, and arrested three suspects in a June raid in the area.
Last year, the Nigerian Navy’s base in Badagry reported rescuing 11 suspected victims in three operations between late June and early July, then eight more along the Badagry-Porto Novo river between late July and early August. The Nigeria Immigration Service said it rescued 23 suspected victims nationwide in July and August, including cases at airports and land borders.
Cross-border cases are not limited to Nigeria’s own roads. In May, NAPTIP’s Lagos command received 12 trafficking victims repatriated from Ghana.
What happens next
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, known as NAPTIP, says rescued victims go into protective care, where they receive counseling, medical checks and rehabilitation. The agency said in September that it had secured nine convictions and rescued more than 80 suspected trafficking victims nationwide in July and August. It has also warned that trafficking is moving increasingly into digital spaces.
Trafficking is a crime under Nigeria’s Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act. The law provides for prosecution of traffickers and protection of victims.
Anyone with information about suspected trafficking can report it to the police or to NAPTIP.
