The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking
In Persons (NAPTIP) has secured the arrest of three suspected human
traffickers and rescued fourteen victims of human trafficking.
The suspects, two females- Evelyn Jerry, 27 years old,
Stephen Rebecca, 30 years old, and Mr. Richard Patrick, 38 years old,
were intercepted by men of the Nigerian Army on official duty in Lokoja,
Kogi state, and handed over to the Nigeria Immigration Services (NIS)
Lokoja, before they were subsequently handed over to NAPTIP.
The fourteen victims, aged between three and thirteen
years, and comprising of nine females and five males, were crammed into
an eight-seater Seat Alhambra Sedan, with Plateau state registration
number: JJN 964XB, where they struggled for space.
They were taken from Riyom Local Government Area of
Plateau state, and on their way to Ekpoma, Edo State before they were
intercepted and rescued.
The suspects, who are from the same town with the
victims, confessed that they were taking the children to Ekpoma where
they would be distributed to various households, for labour purposes.
They claimed that the parents of the fourteen children gave them consent
to take the children and send them to various households for domestic
labour.
Reacting to the news of the arrest, the Director-General
of NAPTIP, Dame Julie Okah-Donli, expressed her sincere appreciation to
the officers of the Nigerian Army and the Nigeria Immigration Services
for their contributory efforts in the interception, rescue and hand-over
of the victims and suspects.
According to her “this is what the National referral
mechanism, being put in place by NAPTIP and relevant organisations, aims
to achieve. There needs to be a synergy in our collaboration towards
the elimination of human trafficking from Nigeria”.
Dame Julie Okah-Donli used this opportunity to warn the
general public that the Trafficking In Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement
and Administration Act, 2015, prohibits the employment of children
below the age of twelve as domestic workers, and warned that those found
culpable will be severely dealt with.
The NAPTIP DG also added that “such acts fuel the
incidences of child exploitative labour, and the Agency will not
tolerate such abuse on our children, and the suspects will definitely be
charged to court upon the completion of preliminary investigations”.
