In a significant breakthrough in the fight against human trafficking, operatives of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Katsina State Command, have dismantled a notorious interstate trafficking syndicate and rescued three young women who were being forced into prostitution under harrowing conditions.
The operation, carried out on July 9, 2025, followed a string of intelligence-led surveillance activities, culminating in a well-coordinated raid on a prominent hotel in the heart of Katsina metropolis. The raid led to the arrest of three suspected traffickers, including the hotel manager and two employees allegedly complicit in the crimes.
Unlike typical crime briefs often relegated to the back pages in mainstream outlets, this rescue operation underscores a larger crisis unfolding in Nigeria’s hospitality and informal sectors — one that NAPTIP is now tackling with renewed urgency.
According to NAPTIP’s press officer, Vincent Adekoye, the victims — aged between 21 and 26 and originally from Benue and Rivers States — were lured with false promises of well-paying jobs, only to be thrust into forced sex work upon arrival.
“They promised us jobs. I kept asking what kind, but she said I’d find out. When we arrived, we were forced into prostitution,” one of the victims recounted in a tearful statement to operatives.
The survivor detailed a daily ordeal of being compelled to sleep with up to 20 men, regardless of their physical or emotional state. Even while menstruating, sick, or exhausted, they were allegedly forced to continue, with traffickers using energy drinks like Fearless to keep them awake and compliant.
“We weren’t allowed to keep any money. Everything went to the woman they call ‘Amarachi.’ They even hired men to guard us so we wouldn’t run,” she added.
Disturbingly, while the victims were crammed into a small, poorly ventilated room, the traffickers were discovered in luxury rooms within the same hotel, allegedly enjoying the financial proceeds of the women’s exploitation — a cruel metaphor for the imbalance of power at the heart of human trafficking.
This brazen operation, conducted in plain sight, highlights the growing boldness of trafficking networks, often enabled by complicit business owners who turn a blind eye — or worse, actively profit from such abuses.
In her reaction, NAPTIP Director General, Dr. Binta Adamu Bello, OON, praised the Katsina Command for their swift and courageous action, while issuing a stern warning to hotels and hospitality businesses enabling human trafficking.
“These women were deceived, trafficked, and enslaved. Their pain is unimaginable, and the fact that such atrocities were taking place in a commercial establishment is shameful,” Bello said.
She confirmed that legal proceedings have already commenced against the hotel and its staff, in line with Nigeria’s anti-trafficking laws.
“NAPTIP will not tolerate complicity. Any hotel, guest house, or individual found aiding or abetting trafficking will be held accountable. The full weight of the law will be brought to bear,” she affirmed.
The raid is part of a nationwide directive by the NAPTIP DG to heighten surveillance, especially around hotels, motor parks, and entertainment venues — common trafficking hotspots. Unlike reports that skim over the systemic dimensions of trafficking, NAPTIP’s approach focuses on disrupting entire networks, not just rescuing individual victims.
“We are no longer reactive. We are proactively targeting the roots — the recruiters, the enablers, the financiers,” Adekoye added.
