The Director General of the Edo State Migration Agency, Lucky Agazumah, on Thursday, said that two female minors who were being trafficked to Libya were intercepted in Zaria, Kaduna State.
He noted that the minors aged 13 and 14 years, one a sickle cell sufferer, were lured to undertake the trip by traffickers who promised them better opportunities abroad by working as maids.
Speaking at the premises of the agency in Benin, the state capital, on Thursday, Agazumah said the transport firm responsible for transporting the unaccompanied minors would be sanctioned, while noting that other co-conspirators have been arrested.
He also vowed to ensure the traffickers face justice, as there would be no hiding place for human traffickers in the state.
He said, “The two female minors, among them, a sickle cell sufferer, in Edo State, aged 13 and 14, have been rescued while being trafficked to Libya.
“The minors had already gotten to Zaria in Kaduna State when their trafficker pressured them to return because his mother, Comfort Etim, was in the police net.
“They left Edo on Sunday and returned on Wednesday night.”
He said the girls said they were told they would be taken to Italy to work as maids to an old couple, but that they should not tell their parents.
They said their sponsor put them in a bus and gave them a number to call when they got to Kano State.
One of them, who identified herself as Success, said, “The boy told me her sister is in Italy and that she and her husband were old. He said they don’t have any children. He told me not to tell my mother. He said we should call our parents when we get abroad. They said the second girl does not look well, but she said she is well.
“They took us to a motor park in Aduwawa and placed us inside a bus to Kano State. He told the driver we were going to Kano and gave us a number to call when we got to Kano. He gave us hijab, milk, golden morn and water. I am happy that I am back home.”
The other victim, who is suffering from sickle cell, said she wanted to surprise her mother when she got to Italy.
According to her, “The boy told me her sister is 78 years old. I said that if I go, I will surprise my mother. I told them my body is sound. He told us to wear the hijab when we get to Kano. We are to call a man in Kano who will take us in from there. When we got to Zaria, he called us to return home, but the Kaduna man asked us to continue the journey.”
The mother of the suspected trafficker, Comfort Etim, said her daughter had previously taken six minors to Libya.
She said her daughter interrogated the children before she agreed to take them to the motor park.
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