The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has successfully rescued a 14-year-old girl who was allegedly subjected to severe abuse, starvation, and exploitation by the wife of a high-ranking government official in Sokoto State.
According to a statement released by NAPTIP's Press Officer, Vincent Adekoye, the victim, Bashariyya Usman, was identified after a video showing her in a distressed state went viral on social media. The footage revealed the harsh treatment she had endured at the hands of her employer.
The statement detailed that Bashariyya had been reportedly locked in a dark room, malnourished, and physically assaulted for several weeks. She is the only daughter of Malam Usman Aliyu from Maradun Local Government Area of Zamfara State, who was displaced by bandit attacks and had been living with his family in an internally displaced persons (IDP) camp in Sokoto.
False Promises and Exploitation
Following her father's displacement, Bashariyya was recruited in January 2025 by the wife of a government official residing in Abuja. The woman had promised to offer the girl domestic work with a monthly salary of ₦10,000 and had also pledged to enroll her in school—promises that were never fulfilled.
Instead, the young girl found herself trapped in a cycle of abuse and exploitation, highlighting the ongoing issue of domestic servitude and child labor in Nigeria.
This case adds to NAPTIP's growing list of interventions in human trafficking and exploitation cases. The agency has been actively working to combat such crimes across the country, with recent reports indicating that NAPTIP has secured 600 convictions and rescued approximately 20,000 victims of human trafficking over the past 22 years.
The rescue operation underscores the importance of public vigilance and reporting in combating domestic abuse and child exploitation in Nigeria.
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