National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons. Photo: NAPTIP

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, Jigawa State Command, says it has rescued 258 victims of human trafficking and reunited them with their families, while 512 stranded indigenes of the state have been returned from abroad over the past 18 months.

PUNCH Online gathered that the development comes as the world commemorates the 2026 World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, aimed at exposing trafficking scams, protecting vulnerable people and preventing children and youths from falling victim to traffickers.

Speaking with journalists at the command headquarters in Dutse, the Jigawa State capital, on Thursday to mark the 2026 World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, the State Commander, Abdulkadir Turajo, said Jigawa remains a source and major transit route for traffickers moving people to Europe and the Middle East.

He said that since the Jigawa State Command was established in July 2023, the agency had recorded 78 trafficking cases across the state’s border with the Niger Republic, rescued and reunited 258 trafficking victims with their families, and secured two convictions, including one involving a foreign national.

“Between January 2025 and July 2026, 512 Jigawa indigenes were returned by the International Organisation for Migration from different countries in conjunction with NAPTIP,” he added.

Turajo noted that traffickers now use fake job advertisements, scam compounds and online fraud to lure unsuspecting youths, in line with this year’s global theme, “Trapped Behind the Scam.”

“Trafficking is modern slavery. It involves deception, debt bondage and force to put people into forced labour or slavery-like conditions,” he said.

He warned that the crime fuels corruption, irregular migration, terrorism, drug trafficking and other organised crimes, while also damaging Nigeria’s image abroad.

To mark the day, the command carried out six sensitisation campaigns in Kazaure and Roni Local Government Areas, which he described as two of the most trafficking-prone areas in the state.

Turajo said more than 150 awareness programmes had been conducted in schools, markets, mosques, churches and communities across the state’s 27 local government areas over the past three years.

According to him, the command has also inaugurated anti-trafficking and anti-violence vanguards in selected schools to tackle the problem at the community level.

Turajo warned traffickers operating in or passing through Jigawa to desist from the crime.

He also appealed to members of the public not to harbour traffickers or conceal trafficking victims.

Some residents of Dutse who spoke with PUNCH Online described the awareness campaign as timely, given the increasing pressure on young people to seek opportunities abroad.

Aisha Maraya, a trader at Dutse Market, said, “We hear stories of girls promised jobs in Dubai or Libya but end up stranded. Government should keep educating parents so they don’t fall for fake offers.”