The Nigerian government has successfully dismantled an international criminal network operating between Nigeria and Libya.
Thirty-seven Nigerians have been arrested in connection with the network, which engaged in a range of illicit activities including witchcraft, human trafficking, and drug trafficking.
The Public Prosecution Office announced the dismantling of the network, stating that intelligence reports had identified a meeting of irregular migrants coordinating operations across five notorious organizations: “High Viking,” “EMSI,” “Eye,” “Black Axe,” and the “New Black Movement in Africa.”
The Attorney General’s Office released a statement detailing the collaborative efforts of law enforcement agencies to infiltrate the networks and disrupt their activities, which posed a significant threat to national and regional security.
The investigation revealed that the suspects carried out activities typical of criminal gangs within Libya, exploiting witchcraft practices to facilitate human trafficking and other crimes. The networks were accused of directing female migrants into forced labor, operating brothels, and trafficking women internationally.
The statement read: “The Prosecutor’s Office dismantled a network of criminal gangs that infiltrated from Nigeria into Libya, engaging in witchcraft rites, organizing illegal migration operations, kidnappings, drug trafficking, and theft.
“They committed acts of witchcraft and sorcery inside Libya and exploited these practices in human trafficking, including forced labour.
“The groups were accused of directing female migrants under their control to perform domestic work, running brothels in the country, trafficking women on an international scale, and organizing irregular migration to northern Mediterranean countries, as well as engaging in kidnappings, drug trafficking, and theft.”
The Prosecutor’s Office stated that the networks had established structures in Libya and were working with mafia organizations in Mediterranean countries.
Intelligence services successfully arrested the suspects, including the leader of the “Viking” group in Libya.
All arrested suspects are currently in detention pending further investigations.
