Four of the suspected traffickers are males, while the rescued victims are females between the ages of 14 and 29.
The National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, on Monday, said four suspected human traffickers were arrested while nineteen victims were rescued.
The announcement was made through a representative of the NAPTIP boss, Abdullahi Babale.
Four of the suspected traffickers are males, while the rescued victims are females between the ages of 14 and 29.
He said, “The agency received an intelligence report that the suspects harboured the victims in their house situated at Jigawa State before moving them in batches to the Niger Republic.
“The victims were on transit from Ondo, Ekiti, Delta, Anambra, Edo, Osun, Kogi, Akwa Ibom, Kwara, Ogun and Lagos states en route to Rivers, Oyo, Osun, Delta and Ogun States, then to Europe via Libya.
“On receiving the information, a special operation was coordinated by NAPTIP Joint Border Task Force in collaboration with Katsina State Police Command and the 19 victims were rescued on August 18.”
Babale said the agency also rescued five victims of child labour and apprehended two suspects.
He added that the victims were five females between ages of 10 and 11.
According to him, the agency received information that the victims were on transit from Bareruwan Daji village in Katsina State en route to Kaduna via Kano.
He, however, called on parents to always protect their children from being exploited and lured into slavery in the name of seeking greener pastures.
The agency had on August 9, rescued 80 victims of human trafficking en route to Kano via the Niger Republic to Europe.