The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has dismantled a transnational organized criminal syndicate linked to the QNET/IGNITE network, arresting its alleged leader and 11 other suspected facilitators while rescuing two victims in coordinated operations across Lagos and Ogun states.
The operation, carried out as part of the Service's ongoing crackdown on irregular migration and transnational organized crime, was based on actionable intelligence on the activities of human trafficking syndicates operating in the two states.
According to a statement signed by the Service Public Relations Officer, DCI Akinsola Akinlabi on Tuesday ,the alleged leader of the syndicate, Ouattra Adama, a Burkinabé national, was arrested alongside 11 suspected accomplices in various parts of Lagos.
The suspects comprise eight Liberians and three Cameroonians believed to have facilitated the syndicate's operations. Immigration operatives also rescued two Liberian nationals identified as victims of the group's illegal activities.
The statement said the 12 suspects and the two rescued victims have been transferred to the Nigeria Immigration Service Headquarters in Abuja for further investigation and possible prosecution.
The Service urged members of the public to exercise caution by verifying employment, educational, business and other migration-related offers through appropriate authorities before making financial commitments or travelling abroad.
Akinlabi said the successful operation demonstrates the Nigeria Immigration Service's commitment to intelligence-driven border management and its determination to eliminate irregular migration and transnational organized crime.
He added that the operation is in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's administration, which prioritises enhanced national security and strengthened border governance.