A Peep Into Katsina’s Human Trafficking Highways

Although Katsina has no fewer than six recognized border points and countless other illegal ones, Kongolam and Babban Mutum borders appears to be appealing for traffickers who regularly “ferry” their victims through the border posts in the state, MUAZU ELAZEH, report.

From January this year to date, the Katsina State command of Nigerian Immigration Service rescued an average of twenty victims of human trafficking every month, except for the three months of June, July and August which records made available by the Command indicated that no rescue was made.

These victims are often lured by the prospect of an obviously non-existent greener pasture in the foreign land and so they throw in all they have to make the journey out.

Trafficking in persons has continued to pose serious challenge and it is even taking a more worrisome dimension with the realisation that some of the victims often end up dead due to harsh situation they are exposed to while the journey lasted.

The Katsina state command of Nigerian Immigration Service said from January to November, it rescued no fewer than two hundred victims of trafficking including children with ages ranging from one year to seven.

According to statistic made available to newsmen, fifteen persons were rescued in January but the number of persons rescued almost double in February where twenty three victims of trafficking were rescued.

The statistic indicated that rescue efforts for October was the largest as no fewer than sixty six victims were rescued.

A breakdown showed that in January, 15 were rescued and for February, March, April and May, twenty three, 15, eighteen and two persons respectively were rescued and handed over to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).

Indeed, most of these victims are embarking on the deadly journey in their mission to reach Libya by passing through Niger Republic and further travel to countries of Italy and other western nation where in their own myopic reasoning, life is all bed of roses.

Sometimes in January this year, the Katsina state command of Nigeria Immigration Service rescued twelve suspected victims of human trafficking, including one year old baby at Kongolam border.

Then state Comptroller of Prisons, Mohammed Alhaji Alfa said the victims were “arrested on their way to Maimujiya through Kongolam border adding that they are indigenes of Edo and Delta states.

He said upon interrogations, the victims said they were headed for Libya in search of the much talked about greener pastures.

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