NAPTIP warns traffickers now use gyms and fake job adverts to lure victims
- NAPTIP says traffickers befriend women at gyms and recreational centres before luring them into trafficking networks.
- The agency also warned that fake online job adverts are pulling job seekers into traffickers' hands.
- Its spokesman, Adekoye Vincent, spoke in Abuja and urged Nigerians to verify people offering jobs or help.
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has warned Nigerians that traffickers are now using gyms, recreational centres and fake job adverts to recruit victims, mostly women.
NAPTIP spokesman Adekoye Vincent gave the warning on Thursday at a joint briefing by security and intelligence agencies in Abuja. The Whistler reported that the briefing was organised by the Office of the National Security Adviser for public relations officers of security agencies.
According to Vincent, traffickers approach people in social settings, present themselves as service providers helping with domestic needs, shopping and sourcing goods, and then collect their phone numbers.
He said they work to look dependable, sometimes calling at odd hours or turning up when a target has a problem, such as a vehicle breakdown. Punch quoted him as saying such gestures are often "part of a deliberate strategy to gain the victim's trust."
Fake jobs and long journeys
Vincent also said fake job advertisements, especially online, are being used to deceive job seekers. He said the agency has recorded disturbing cases of people who travelled long distances for work and ended up with traffickers.
He cited one case: a lawyer who travelled from Benue State to a law chamber in Abuja and fell into the wrong hands. Vincent said he personally spoke with the victim and found the experience deeply disturbing.
He warned that trafficking can leave victims with serious emotional and psychological harm, sometimes including unwanted pregnancies. He advised Nigerians not to rush into online friendships and to always check the identity and intentions of anyone offering a job, money or other help.
In the same briefing, Vincent gave an update on the agency's work. He said NAPTIP has secured 16 convictions for human trafficking and related offences, and has rescued and received 221 Nigerian victims through the international airports in Abuja and Lagos.
He said stronger surveillance at the Aminu Kano International Airport led to the interception of 65 potential victims allegedly being recruited for exploitation in the Middle East.
He also said NAPTIP, working with the Rivers State Government, shut down 16 suspicious health facilities in Port Harcourt after a nationwide operation. The agency is also investigating the alleged trafficking of more than 300 children from Benue and Nasarawa States, where a suspect allegedly posed as a civil society leader. Six more children were recovered, bringing the number rescued in that case to 117, and the suspects' trial is ongoing in Makurdi, he said.
Vincent added that NAPTIP has stepped up public awareness campaigns after reports of rising sextortion, rape and revenge pornography across the country.
What happens next
NAPTIP is asking Nigerians to verify job offers and new online friendships before trusting them. The agency says its awareness campaigns and airport surveillance will continue, and the Benue and Nasarawa child trafficking case is still before a court in Makurdi.
