In an overnight operation, officials from the Nigerian Embassy and a Senegalese-based NGO rescued 24 Nigerian girls who were sexually exploited in Tamaccounda and Kedougou regions of Senegal.

Salihu Abubakar, acting Ambassador of the Nigerian Embassy in Dakar, Senegal, confirmed this to journalists in Dakar on Sunday.

According to him, the girls, who are mostly under the age of 11, 13, and 24, are being trafficked to Senegal via Cotonou, Republic of Benin, and the Mali-Senegal border for sexual exploitation in the Tamaccounda and Kedougou regions.

"Our main goal and number one priority is to discourage the trafficking of our Nigerian girls to any part of the world for prostitution under any disguise," Mr Abubakar said.