Kunle Falayi
Operatives from the Nigeria Police, Zone 2, Onikan, Lagos, have raided a house in Mazamaza area of the state, after a tip-off on suspicious movement of people in the area, the police said on Tuesday.
Two suspects along with the victims – 16 Togolese and three Ghanaians – were taken into custody from a vehicle which would have taken them to Akwa Ibom, where they would journey by ferry to Gabon.
The youngest of the victims is 12 while the oldest of them claimed to be 42.
The Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 2, Mr. Bala Hassan, said the victims were transported from Ghana through Togo to Nigeria with the hope of making an onward journey to Akwa Ibom where they would be ferried by boat to Gabon.
All the victims said they willingly agreed to make the journey with the hope of securing profitable jobs in Gabon.
Hassan said, “The idea is to carry them to Gabon where they would have been sold to those waiting for them for either prostitution or to be used as domestic slaves,” Hassan said.
All the victims said they were handed over to a Nigerian called Baba Ibeji by a Ghanaian they only knew as Kwa Kwa.
One of the Ghanaians, 27-year-old Yeboah Johnson, explained that he paid Kwa Kwa money to go to Gabon because he needed a good job to be able to take care of his siblings.
“My parents died in a road accident sometime ago and I had to take care of my siblings. I needed to go to Gabon because I have been told I would get a good job there,” he said.
It was learnt that Mazamaza and Mile 2 areas of Lagos have become a receiving point for trafficked Africans coming into the country through the Seme border. One of the suspects, 41-year-old Godwin Samuel, said it was not the first time he would be transporting people from other countries from Mile 2 to Akwa Ibom.
“The first time Baba Ibeji contacted me, I took 11 people to Akwa Ibom and he paid N35,000 but this time, we agreed to N55,000. When they cross the border at Badagry, we receive them at Mile 2 or Mazamaza and take them to Akwa Ibom.
Baba Ibeji is said to be on the run at the moment, while efforts are being made to arrest other members of the trafficking cartel.
One of the Togolese victims, 25-year-old Esther Tigbegulo, said an aunt who lives in Gabon told her she could find a good work there.
“I later met the man who promised me that he could make my journey to Gabon possible. He took us from Togo to Seme and we later came to Mile 2 before we were arrested,” she said.
The AIG said that the police are now on the lookout for traffickers using the Badagry route.
The victims have been handed over to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons for further investigation.
“There is also vigilance along the Akwa-Ibom route because that is where they ferry them to Gabon. We are maintaining vigilance and wherever security men see children of this nature, they should always ask questions,” he said.
Hassan also enjoined members of the public to always avail the police with information whenever they notice odd movements in their neighbourhood. He said without the tip-off received by his operatives, the raid would not have been possible.
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