The Nigeria Police Force has busted a transnational human trafficking syndicate, rescued 30 Malian nationals, and arrested 13 suspects in Nasarawa State.
Force Public Relations Officer Anthony Okon Placid disclosed the operation at the Force Intelligence Department in Guzape, Abuja, on behalf of IGP Olatunji Rilwan Disu.
The case commenced after the Association of Malian Citizens in Nigeria reported several nationals missing.
Police allege the ring lured young people from Mali and Gabon with fake job offers and promises of passage to Europe, mainly Spain. Victims paid about ₦120,000 each for transport and processing before being held in apartments in Mararaba and Karu.
Those who couldn’t pay more were forced to stage fake kidnappings, calling relatives abroad to demand ransom, Placid said.
Operatives raided two locations along Barrister Road in Rugan Dakachi and rescued 30 Malians. The Force is working with the Nigeria Immigration Service and the Malian Embassy to document, protect, and repatriate them safely.
In two other operations, police arrested a father-and-son pair accused of kidnapping their own father and grandfather, Alhaji Rabo Jelani, for ransom. Yusuf Rabo and Musa Adamu, with one Ali Haruna still at large, allegedly collected ₦2m in the first abduction and ₦4.5m in the second.
The same gang is linked to the kidnapping of a trader and a highway robbery near GSS Kagoma.
Police also detained a 41-year-old chef, John Cosmos Govi, for allegedly drugging his employer’s Abuja household and stealing luxury watches and cash worth about ₦150m. Govi reportedly spiked soup with a sedative, let accomplices into the house at 10 p.m., and damaged the CCTV system before fleeing.
The group was intercepted near Gwagwalada while heading to Lagos. Govi has confessed and is helping trace other suspects and recover stolen items.
Placid said investigations are ongoing and pledged intelligence-driven policing and prosecution of all involved. He urged Nigerians to be cautious when hiring domestic staff and to report suspicious activity.
