Four notorious suspected human
traffickers have been caught by the Immigrations Service, Oyo State Command,
while allegedly attempting to smuggle a nursing mother along with her
two-year-old son, nine girls, and a boy.
The suspects and their victims were
apprehended at the Saki border, in Oke-Ogun area of Oyo State. The four men
were accused of involvement in a trafficking ring which was responsible for
bringing in several foreigners, notably Beninois and Togolese, into the country
without travelling documents.
Comptroller of Immigration, Oyo State Command, Innocent Akatu, said the victims were usually sold into slavery where they would work on large farmlands and local markets in the area. He also said that some would be used as housemaids, not ruling out the possibility of involving the illegal aliens in prostitution rings by their traffickers.
“It’s a continuous exercise and a
menace we will like to trash. They were arrested at our border post in Shaki
area of Oyo State on Monday while trying to enter Nigeria in different batches.
They are from Togo and Benin Republic and after interrogation, we found out that
they had entered Nigeria illegally. We will hand them over to the National
Agency for Prohibition of Traffic in Persons for appropriate measure. There is
the need to sensitise the public on the evils associated with child
trafficking. Some of these people are young children of eight years old.”
One of the suspects, Pascal Musa
from Benin Republic, said he was a farmer in Iseyin and that he brought the
nursing mother, Sambiani Melane, 20, her 13-year-old sister and two other girls
to Nigeria to work in restaurants and farms.
He said, “I did not obtain necessary
papers before bringing them in to the country because I did not know that it
was wrong. We were caught in a bus after crossing to Nigeria. I told them we
were going to Nigeria and that the people with me were also going there to look
for work in Iseyin. I came with four people. One of them has a baby but I took
permission from her parents before bringing her here. She was not living with
the father of her baby because they were not married. I intended to take them
to Toluwaloni where food is sold.”
Melane told our correspondent that
the father of her son did not marry her and that he was aware of her sojourn in
Nigeria with the child.
She said, “He impregnated me in our
house but we are not married. He knows that I was coming to Nigeria to work. I
was not promised any money yet because we were yet to enter Nigeria when we
were caught. I am a trained fashion designer at home but there is no work. I
have never been to Nigeria.”
Kofi Musa is a father of 11 children
with his wife pregnant with their twins. He has been in Nigeria for 12 years.
Like his kinsman, Musa, he is also a suspected human trafficker who has
allegedly brought in several foreigners to Nigeria.
He said, “I have been farming in Iwere-Ile
area of Oke-Ogun for 12 years. I got married there and I have 11 children. I
was caught with three children but I have others working with me in the farm. I
promised to pay the money of those I was caught with to Zan, the father of two
of them. The father of the last one has travelled to France. He said I should
take care of the child in his absence, so I brought him to Nigeria to work on
the farm. On each child, I collect N8,000 per month from those who seek their
services.”
Punch
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