NAPTIP, UK Government Rally Against Rising Trafficking into Southeast Asia Scam Centres

By: Michael Mike

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), in collaboration with the British High Commission Abuja, has amplified the voices of trafficking survivors in a bold move to confront the fast-growing crisis of cyber-enabled scam operations across Southeast Asia.

At a landmark survivor-centred forum held in Abuja on Monday, stakeholders gathered under the theme, “Confronting the Global Scam Centre Crisis: Perspectives of Nigerian Survivors,” to spotlight the emerging pattern of Nigerians being lured abroad with fake job offers and forced into criminal cyber-fraud networks.

The event featured testimonies from recently repatriated Nigerians who were trafficked to Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand, where they were compelled to operate sophisticated online scam schemes under harsh, exploitative and often abusive conditions.

The programme followed a coordinated rescue effort involving NAPTIP, the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Nigerian Embassy in Bangkok, the British NGO EDEN, and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Their joint intervention — including cross-border triangulation at the Thai–Myanmar frontier and welfare visits to detained Nigerians at Bangkok’s Immigration Detention Centre — led to the safe return of 23 survivors earlier this month.

Global data underscore the severity of the crisis. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) 2026 report titled “A Wicked Problem,” credible estimates indicate that at least 120,000 individuals are currently trapped in forced scam operations inside Myanmar alone, with figures exceeding 300,000 across Southeast Asia. The report notes that victims identified originate from at least 66 countries, and that between 2020 and 2025, 74 percent of known victims trafficked into scam centres were taken to Southeast Asia after being promised lucrative employment.

Speaking at the event, the UK Deputy High Commissioner to Abuja, Gill Lever, said the forum was designed to centre survivors’ voices and ensure their experiences inform prevention and response strategies.

“We are here to listen to survivors who have shown remarkable bravery in sharing their experiences,” she said. “The UK is working closely with Nigerian authorities and partners to ensure trauma-informed care, safe repatriation and stronger safeguards against this rapidly evolving threat.”

Representing the Director-General of NAPTIP, Mrs. Kehinde Akomolafe, the agency’s Director of Public Enlightenment, described the accounts as a stark reminder of the cruelty underpinning modern trafficking networks.

“The courage these survivors have shown is extraordinary,” she said. “Their experiences expose the brutal reality of trafficking into scam centres — a crime that strips individuals of their dignity, autonomy and freedom. NAPTIP remains resolute in protecting Nigerians from this growing menace and strengthening collaboration with international partners.”

One survivor recounted being promised a legitimate job opportunity abroad, only to be trapped in a high-security compound and coerced into online fraud under constant surveillance and threats.

“I was promised opportunity and a better life,” the survivor said. “Instead, I lived in fear and was forced to do things against my will. I am speaking out so other Nigerians can recognise the warning signs. No one should go through what we endured.”

Stakeholders at the forum called for intensified public awareness campaigns, tighter scrutiny of overseas recruitment channels, enhanced intelligence-sharing among Commonwealth partners and stronger victim-protection frameworks.

As cyber-enabled trafficking networks expand across borders, Nigerian and UK authorities signalled that survivor-led advocacy will remain central to dismantling scam syndicates and preventing further exploitation.

NAPTIP, UK Government Rally Against Rising Trafficking into Southeast Asia Scam Centres

Governor Zulum Felicitates with the Muslim Ummah on the Commencement of 2026 Ramadan

By: Our Reporter

Borno State Governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, has extended warm felicitations to the Muslim Ummah in Borno State, Nigeria, and across the world on the commencement of the Ramadan fast, 1447 After Hijrah

Governor Zulum described the Holy month of Ramadan as a period of spiritual rejuvenation, self-discipline, sacrifice, compassion, and devotion to Almighty Allah. He noted that fasting is not only about abstaining from food and drink, but also about purifying the heart, strengthening faith, promoting patience, and extending kindness to the less fortunate and less privileged members of society.

In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Dauda Iliya, the governor urged Muslim faithful to use the blessed month to deepen their acts of worship, supplication, and charitable giving, promote unity, and uphold the values of peace, tolerance, and mutual respect that Islam teaches.

“I would like to extend my sincere congratulations to the Muslim Ummah on the commencement of the Ramadan fast, one of the five pillars of Islam. This Ramadan is coming at a time when the state continues to witness sustained peace and a bumper harvest from last year’s cropping season,” Zulum said.

“On Tuesday, I launched the distribution of Ramadan palliatives to 300,000 households across all 27 local government areas of the state, designed to cushion the economic burden on vulnerable residents during the holy month of Ramadan. The gesture will also be extended to members of the Christian community who are also fasting the Lent which falls within the month of Ramadan,”.

Reflecting on Borno’s journey over the past fifteen years, Governor Zulum acknowledged the resilience, patience, and sacrifices as the state recovers from Boko Haram insurgency. He reaffirmed his administration’s unwavering commitment to restoring lasting security, rebuilding destroyed communities, resettling displaced families, and reviving livelihoods across the state.

“Our government remains focused on consolidating the gains achieved in security through close collaboration with the Federal Government and security agencies. We are rebuilding schools, hospitals, roads, and markets, and supporting farmers, traders, and youth to restore economic activities in liberated communities,” he remarked.

He added that significant progress has been made in reconstruction and rehabilitation, but emphasized that collective prayers and unity of purpose remain essential to sustaining peace and stability in Borno State and Nigeria as a whole.

Governor Zulum therefore called on the Muslim Ummah to dedicate this Ramadan to fervent prayers for enduring peace, security, prosperity and national cohesion. He also encouraged citizens to support one another, especially vulnerable families, widows, orphans and those affected by the insurgency.

“As we observe this sacred month, let us renew our commitment to righteousness, peaceful coexistence and service to humanity. With faith, unity and perseverance, we shall continue to rebuild our state stronger and more resilient than ever,” he said.

He called on well-spirited individuals and groups to support the less fortunate members of society in this season of faith renewal and rejuvenation.

Zulum also felicitated with the Christian community on the commencement of Lent, which coincides with the day Muslims start the month-long Ramadan fast.

“This is not a mere coincidence. Rather, it underscores the need for unity, peaceful coexistence, and collective action in building and advancing the state and the nation,” he emphasized.

The governor prayed that Almighty Allah accepts the fast, supplication, and good deeds, and grant Borno State and Nigeria sustainable peace and development.

Governor Zulum Felicitates with the Muslim Ummah on the Commencement of 2026 Ramadan

El-Rufai Puts Ribadu on Trial

By Frank Tietie

A man who is neither drunk nor high on drugs, but in his clear and sane mind, goes on a prime-time show on a continental television network like the Arise News Channel and proclaims that he got information from someone who tapped the phone line of the National Security Adviser (NSA) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. How should the Nigerian government react?

It becomes a Catch-22 for the Nigerian government whether to respond to El-Rufai’s latest tirade. But to react hastily would fail to see the damning point Nasir El-Rufai is trying to make, which is to show the ineptitude of Nuhu Ribadu as NSA. The government should have seen through the former Kaduna State governor’s bravado.

Of course, El-Rufai knows the possibility that Ribadu would fall for the trick and might actually order his detention, either for statements made on live international television or for the bared waiting fangs of the EFCC. Sonit appears he had prepared for the worst, but probably not for death in the hands of his sworn enemies through poisoning. Hence, he immediately alerted the world to the Gestapo treatment that is usually given to some government enemies when they are in detention. So he quickly accuses the same Nuhu Ribadu of importing thallium sulphate, a lethal poison suitable for eliminating political enemies quietly. This he has done, in case he, himself or any other opposition politicians die in detention as 2027 approaches. What a way to shift the burden?

The choice of the government to charge El-Rufai for cybercrimes over the claims he made on live on Arise News Prime Time show about tapping the NSA’s phone is a tacit yet loud acknowledgement that any NSA whose phone can be tapped so easily is not only incompetent, but highly undisciplined and lackadaisical on national security matters. Tell me, which serious country, like the United States of America, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia, or Saudi Arabia, would take the National Security Adviser of Nigeria seriously if they knew that an ordinary citizen could easily tap his phone?

What Malam Nasir El-Rufai has done is not to present technical evidence of interception. Rather, he has thrown a political gauntlet designed to provoke a reaction. The trap is simple: once the state moves against him, the conversation shifts from the accuracy of his claim to the conduct and capability of those charged with safeguarding national security.

A hurried resort to criminal prosecution risks missing the wider implication that public officers, particularly those occupying sensitive security positions, are expected to inspire confidence, not anxiety.

Therefore, if the state frames a prosecution around a claim that the NSA’s line could be tapped, the unintended consequence is that the allegation receives international circulation, renewed media life and diplomatic attention. In effect, the courtroom becomes a megaphone for the NSA’s failures.

Consequently, if the charge against El-Rufai is driven by reputational discomfort or the political embarrassment that he has caused Ribadu or the Tinubu government. It risks being counterproductive, especially in a democratic setting that has a high tolerance for speech directed at public officials.

Statements that are provocative, speculative or even reckless are often part of political contestation, especially as 2027 approaches. They should not be the basis for criminal charges. Such statements are best answered by clarification, transparency, and institutional reassurance, rather than the coercive weight of arrest, arraignment, and trial.

To prosecute El-Rufai in circumstances such as this may therefore produce the exact opposite of deterrence. It can elevate and transform him into a cause, especially among Northern Nigeria elements, and suggest that the government is more eager to punish criticism than to disprove it.

The other dimension is the possibility that such a trial would invite scrutiny, arguments, cross-examinations, and global reporting, further exposing Ribadu or the government. Meanwhile, silence would have buried it faster.

Instead of dismissing El-Rufai as someone probably chasing political clout, the choice to charge him would validate his point and expose Nuhu Ribadu as unfit to be NSA.

El-Rufai is no ordinary politician. He combines the arts of casuistry, statecraft, populism and activism for political relevance, and he is yet on another journey to reinvent himself politically to the detriment of his foes like Ribadu. But he also wants to come out alive. And even if he dies in the process, he seems not to care much, as long as such would deal the maximum blow to the political careers of his traducers.

If anyone thinks El-Rufai is being diminished by his latest travails, they should think again. In fact, it is he who is putting some persons on trial in the court of reason.

Frank Tietie
Lawyer and Public Affairs Commentator,
Writes from Abuja

El-Rufai Puts Ribadu on Trial