Nigerian security forces have rescued thirteen minors, most of them girls, from the hands of a notorious human trafficker, Nurudeen Sani, who has been on its watch list.
“The well-planned operation also led to the rescue of 13 Libya-bound victims of human trafficking, made up of two boys and eleven girls”, the agency’s statement said. It added that it began “a manhunt for two members of the trafficking ring, whose names were given as Bose and Ismael,” according to Guardian Nigeria News.
The victims were allegedly recruited from the South-Western region of the country, and rescued while heading to Libya via Niger.
The suspect is presently under interrogation by NAPTIP operatives, while the victims are undergoing counselling as part of the agency’s rehabilitation procedure.
African migrants usually travel through Libya on their way to Europe via the Mediterranean sea. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that at least 360 migrants have died this year while trying to cross the sea to Europe, while 570 remain missing. In 2020, some 381 people lost their lives in the central Mediterranean, and 597 more were reported missing.
In 2020, hundreds of people who disembarked in Libya had been forcibly disappeared at an informal site, then controlled by a militia, according to Amnesty International. Since then, Libyan authorities have integrated the site into the Tripoli Gathering and Return Centre, colloquially known as the Al-Mabani.
In the first half of 2021, more than 7,000 people intercepted at sea were forcibly returned to the Al-Mabani. Detainees told Amnesty that they faced torture and other ill-treatment, cruel and inhuman detention conditions, including extortion and forced labour. Some also reported being subjected to invasive, humiliating, and violent strip searches.