Officials of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) on Monday arrested eight Ghanaian ladies who were about to be trafficked through the international wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos.
NewsGazette learnt that the apprehended Ghanaians had attempted to pass through the airport to Kuwait where they hoped to cross to Europe for prostitution before they were nabbed by NIS operatives.
An immigration official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the women aged between 20 and 25 were booked on Cairo-bound Egypt Air flight hoping to transit from there to Kuwait before leaving for Europe.
The source gave the names of some of the young women as Tordro Gifty, 22; Odurowaa Millicent, 20; Abotsi Gift, 24 and Bisuat Fustina, 25.
“We suspected the ladies immediately they approached our counters for processes and queried them on their mission through Nigeria, especially when they were in possession of Ghanaian international passports.
“When our officers interrogated them,, 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 that they were actually crossing to Europe, but had hoped to land in Kuwait first. They confessed that their sponsors advised them to use Nigeria as exit point for the Europe-bound trip
“During interrogation, we discovered that they actually came to Nigeria by road; from Ghana to Togo and then to Benin Republic. They confessed that they came to Nigeria by road,” said the immigration official.
He said that was not the first time the command arrested trafficked persons.
“We will continue to increase our surveillance to ensure that unscrupulous elements don’t use our command to perpetuate their criminal activities,” he added.
After their arrest, the source said the Ghanaians were handed over to officials of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) who drove them out of the airport.
However, as of the time of handing in this report, NewsGazette could not ascertain whether the women had been repatriated to Ghana or they were still in Nigeria.