The Jigawa Command of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) says it has rescued eight victims of human trafficking in the state.

The NIS comptroller in the state, Samson Agada, stated this at a news conference in Dutse on Friday.

Mr Agada said men of the command intercepted the victims on Wednesday at Dutse motor park, Dutse Local Government Area.

He explained that the victims, aged between 16 and 24, were apprehended on May 5, at about 7:00 a.m. on their way to Europe.

The comptroller added that the victims consisted of six females and two males.

He said six victims were from Benue, while two were from Abia and Ebonyi states.

“Upon their interception at Dutse motor park and subsequent profiling and interrogation, the young victims told us that they were told to inform any security agent that they were in Jigawa to act as vendors for supplement drugs for a company called New Life International.

“On further interrogation, we discovered that their agent only used this deception to get them trafficked across the border from Jigawa to the Niger Republic and onward to North Africa where they board them in a ship via the Atlantic Ocean to Europe,” the comptroller said.

Mr Agada further disclosed that the command had apprehended three persons suspected to have arranged for the victims’ transit.

He said the victims and the three suspected agents would soon be handed over to the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Person (NAPTIP) for further action.

(NAN)