The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons intercepted 13 girls suspected to be victims of human trafficking en route to Baghdad, Iraq for sexual and labour exploitation.

The interception was announced in a statement by NAPTIP.

The agency said the girls, whose ages range from 19 to 39 years, were intercepted at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.

 said that the girls were allegedly deceived and recruited by unregistered labour recruiters suspected to be agents of a larger criminal labour recruiting gang operating between Nigeria and Middle East countries.

”The interception of the Iraq-bound girls followed a tip-off by some concerned partners who noticed the unusual movement of some unknown faces at the departure lounge of the NAIA,” said NAPTIP.

NAPTIP director-general Binta Adamu-Bello, who witnessed the interception, said the level of deceit by traffickers was becoming worrisome, while calling parents and guardians always to be careful of fake promises for their children and wards.

“This implies that should anything happen to these girls, we will not be able to hold anyone responsible because they are undocumented labourers. They were issued a 60-day visa and yet signed a labour agreement of two years.

“The implication of this is that as soon as the visa expires, they are at the mercy of the master and lose all legal rights to demand anything including their legitimate salary,” she said.

The NAPTIP boss added, ”Investigation revealed that they will be paid $250 as monthly salary by their task master out of which they will remit four months’ salary to the agent here in Nigeria and another huge sum to the agent in Iraq.”

She said that from the accounts of scores of victims who passed through the same condition, they were never paid regularly as expected, maybe four or five months only for the agreed contract period of two years.

Ms Adamu-Bello said some of the victims who had been rescued in the past came home with life-threatening medical conditions.

In another development, the agency said, its operatives also sealed up a popular three-star hotel located at Kwali. The agency said 11 underaged girls were used for sexual expedition in the hotel.

The owner of the hotel, the agency said, was arrested.

(NAN)