Police Rescue Nine Children, Arrest Two Suspected Human Traffickers In Niger

 

The Niger State Police Command has rescued nine children suspected to be victims of human trafficking and arrested two suspects in separate operations across the state.

The Command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Wasiu Abiodun, disclosed that the arrests were made by operatives attached to the Madalla and Kpakungu Police Divisions during intelligence-led operations.

According to him, officers attached to the Madalla Police Division, while on routine patrol along the Madalla-Suleja Road, intercepted a vehicle conveying six female children between the ages of seven and 13 years.

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The driver, identified as Dauda Ayuba of Senchi Village in the Kaffin-Koro area of Paikoro Local Government Area, was arrested on suspicion of child trafficking.

A preliminary investigation revealed that Ayuba had travelled from Benin City, Edo State, to Niger State at the request of a woman identified as Iyee and two other accomplices at Ogbu Market, who are currently at large, to procure the six children.

The suspect reportedly confessed to receiving ₦194,000 for transportation and logistics. He allegedly told investigators that the children were to be engaged as domestic workers, salesgirls and in other forms of child labour for financial gain.

Police further said Ayuba deceived the parents of the children by claiming he was taking them to school for educational purposes.

He also admitted that he was to receive ₦10,000 as commission on each child every month, while ₦20,000 would be paid as the child’s monthly wage.

The suspect has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) for further investigation, while the parents of the rescued children have been contacted.

In a separate operation, operatives of the Kpakungu Police Division arrested a 37-year-old woman, Mary Anthony, of the Gbeganu area of Minna, with three female children aged between eight and 10 years, suspected to be victims of child trafficking.

Anthony was apprehended in the Gurara area of Minna. During interrogation, she claimed the children had been handed over to her by their parents in Gbachiko Village, Kagarko area of Kaduna State, citing her previous apprenticeship with one of the victims’ elder sisters.

However, police investigations revealed inconsistencies in her claims. Although she told investigators she was taking the children to an orphanage in Suleja, she was instead found with them in Minna.

She has also been transferred to the SCID for further investigation, while the three rescued children have been reunited with authorities and their parents have been contacted.

The Niger State Police Command said investigations are ongoing to apprehend other members of the suspected child trafficking syndicates and bring them to justice.

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