2,074 persons trafficked in five years, 27 convicted
Lagos State has been declared the biggest transit and destination hub for internal or external human trafficking in Nigeria with about 2,074 persons trafficked in the last five years, while 27 were convicted in connection to the crime.
According to data by National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), yesterday, Epe, Ikorodu, Agege, Apapa and Iganmu topped the list of places in Lagos that were endemic for trafficking.
NAPTIP’s Lagos zonal office revealed the data following a Freedom of Information Act (FOI) request from The Guardian with the aid of Media Rights Agenda (MRA).
The document revealed that 57 male human and 39 female suspected traffickers were arrested in 2019, 55 male and 47 female suspects were arrested in 2020, while 42 male and 31 female suspects were nabbed in 2021.
In 2022, 37 male and 48 female suspects were arrested in connection with trafficking; 35 male and 39 female suspects were arrested in 2023. Between 2019 and 2023, 429 suspects were nabbed and interrogated for kidnapping.
According to the document, the anti-human trafficking agency charged one male and one female to court in 2022, and one male and five females to court in 2023.
In five years, it charged 26 to court. Out of the number, three persons were convicted in 2019 for human trafficking and three others were convicted in 2020.
NAPTIP also secured the conviction of eight persons in 2021 and the conviction of 11 individuals in 2022 while two persons were convicted in connection with the crime in 2022. Two persons were convicted in 2023.
The document showed that 74 males and 397 females were rescued in 2019 and that 22 males and 279 females were delivered from the hands of traffickers in 2020.
Also, 2,074 persons were rescued from 2019 to 2023 of which 269 were male and 1,805 female. Of the 2,074, 116 (5.59 per cent) were minors; 34 minors were rescued in 2019 while 17 were rescued in 2020.
The agency also rescued 15 minors in 2021, 15 in 2022, and 35 in 2023.
