The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) Lagos Border Patrol Command at Seme, in Badagry, has intercepted a six-month-old baby and three other children suspected to be victims of human trafficking.
Comptroller Peter Adache, Controller of the Command, disclosed to newsmen in Badagry on Friday that the victims were intercepted along with their traffickers, a couple, on Monday around 1:30 PM on Kankon Owode Road in Badagry.
Adache revealed that the victims were traveling to Burkina Faso via the Republic of Benin without any relevant travel documents. “None of them was in possession of any travel documents when they were intercepted at Owode Border,” he said.
During interrogation, it was discovered that one of the suspected traffickers, a food vendor and citizen of Burkina Faso, lured the victims with promises of good jobs and salaries. Her husband, a citizen of Benin Republic, helped arrange the transportation of the three ladies and the child to Burkina Faso, covering all travel and feeding expenses for the six individuals.
The controller announced that the victims would be handed over to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) to be reunited with their families. “It is a painful situation and under this situation, we cannot in any way look away,” Adache stated.
One of the victims, a mother of the six-month-old child, explained that she had agreed to travel with the couple due to her dire circumstances. “Shortly after I delivered my child, my husband left me alone to take care of the child. Since there is no help from any quarters, when she [the suspected trafficker] approached me to go to Burkina Faso, I agreed because she said I will make money and do good jobs there,” she said.
The victims were subsequently handed over to Mr. Ibraheem Ogunbiyi, Assistant Director and Head of the Counseling and Rehabilitation Unit at NAPTIP, Lagos Zonal Command.
