Chisco Transport with Ghana govt returns human traffick victims to Nigeria

Chisco Transport with Ghana govt returns human traffick victims to Nigeria

 

Chisco Transport Limited has played a major role in the return to Nigeria of over 250 human traffick victims from Ghana.

The transport company achieved this in partnership with the government of Ghana.

Chisco Transport provided the luxury vehicles, including long and mini buses that brought back the Nigerian youths who were received at the Lagos office of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) last Friday.

The move is considered as a remarkable patriotic gesture and unprecedented in the long distance road transport industry.

Numbering about 231, and aged between 15 and 18, the Nigerian youths, mainly male, were accompanied by officials of the Ghanaian government to Lagos.

The victims were received by NAPTIP after their repatriation from Ghana, where they had been held in a suspected human trafficking and cybercrime hub.

Valentine Ogege, Chisco Ghana Country Head, stated that management provided a fleet of air-conditioned luxury buses for the repatriation.

Ogege said, “As the foremost passenger road transport company in Nigeria, we are very glad that we rendered very satisfactory mobility services to the government of Ghana. We are also very happy that we successfully transported the rescued victims to the Nigerian authorities without any incident.”

Deacon Pius Etuhu, a veteran transporter who has worked in many luxury bus companies as a station manager, commended Chisco Transport for not only earning the confidence of the Ghanaian government, but also for the prompt return of the youths from Accra to Lagos.

“To me, what Chisco did was more than rendering exemplary transport service across the West Coast of Africa. This is more of a remarkable patriotic and diplomatic gesture. It is a service to the nation and humanity,” Etuhu said.

According to the Executive Director of Ghana’s Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), Abdulai Bashiru Dapilah, the victims were rescued during a joint operation in Kumasi and Oyarifa, a suburb of Accra.

In a letter addressed to the NAPTIP Director-General and entitled “Request for Assistance to Screen Suspects of Human Trafficking for Possible Prosecution in Nigeria,” the

EOCO boss disclosed that out of approximately 50 houses within Kumsark Estate, about 30 were being occupied by suspected traffickers and their victims.

“On Thursday, April 17, 2025, EOCO conducted a search operation within the estate, combing 20 houses. A total of 231 Nigerian nationals were found—227 males and four females—aged between 15 and 18 years,” the agency stated.

Receiving the returnees, NAPTIP’s Director-General, Binta Adamu Bello, said the agency would intensify cross-border collaborations with state and non-state actors to dismantle transnational trafficking syndicates operating across West Africa.

Represented by the Lagos Zonal Commander, Bello lamented the increasing trend of Nigerian youths being trafficked to neighbouring countries for sexual exploitation and cybercrime.

“We are deeply concerned by the emerging trend making Ghana and other West African nations a hub for cybercrime and human trafficking,” she said.

She added that NAPTIP had begun consultations with law enforcement agencies in Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, The Gambia, and other countries to review existing Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs), bilateral agreements, and legal frameworks to strengthen cooperation and enhance joint responses.

“We will commence immediate profiling of the returnees to determine their medical condition, health status, skill needs, and other essential variables to provide them with support and post-trauma care,” she said.

Bello attributed the development to NAPTIP’s ongoing crackdown on cybercrime rings in Nigeria, which may have forced traffickers to shift operations to Ghana.

“In the past months, our Cybercrime Response Team has disrupted several criminal networks. Their relocation to Ghana is a reaction to our intensified operations. But with the support of EOCO and immigration services, we will track them down,” she said.