Woman arrested for allegedly trying to sell 3 babies

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, (NAPTIP) in Ebonyi State has taken custody of a woman, Odinaka Ali, arrested by the police for alleged attempt to sell her three children in Enugu State.

The Desk Officer of NAPTIP, Florence Onwa, stated this in Abakaliki while briefing journalists on the rescue of her children.

The 25-year-old woman from Ezilo in Ishielu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State was said to be living with her husband in Enugu State with her three children until eight months ago when her husband abandoned them to an unknown destination.

According to the NAPTIP Desk Officer, Mrs. Onwa, police arrested the woman following a tip-off by a restaurant attendant she contacted to look for a trafficker who can buy her children as she could no longer take care of them.

“She wanted to sell the baby but it didn’t work. She was so unfortunate because the person she met to assist her sell the baby reported the matter to the police,” said Mrs. Onwa.

However, the suspect denied the allegation saying though she sought financial assistance from the attendant to feed her children and pay her house rent, she never discussed selling them with anybody.

The woman, who said her husband was from Amekpo Ohafia in Ohafia Local Government Area of Abia State, claimed that her arrest by the police and subsequent handover to the State Ministry of Gender Affairs in Enugu State before being brought to NAPTIP Office in Ebonyi State, was a frame-up.

She said, “My husband is from Amaekpo Ohafia, Abia State. I and my husband had issues before and we later reconciled. We did not have any problem when he abandoned us in April this year”.

“When I stayed few weeks I did not see him, I started doing menial jobs with my little children to enable me feed them. I kept doing this till it became so difficult for me to continue it and I decided to return to my village”.

“I didn’t want to sell my children at the initial time because I passed through caesarian operation before giving birth to all of them. I met a girl who sells food in a restaurant and narrated my problem to her and she promised to assist me.

“l met the girl before, so she asked me to come to her and wait for a woman who will enter into discussion with me. I waited for the woman and she did not come. I did this three times and I told the girl that I will not come again”.

“She persuaded me to continue coming and I changed my heart. Before I could notice it, Policemen stormed the place and started asking me what I was doing there and the whereabouts of the three kids I wanted to sell”.

“I told the policemen that I didn’t want to sell my babies because I gave birth to them through operations. The policemen asked me to follow them to their station and I refused.

“They immediately invited a policewoman who came and asked me to follow them to the station, that I should obey before complain and I followed them to the station.

“While in the station, the girl who asked me to come to her said I told her to start looking for who will buy my children.”

The head of Child Development Department, Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, Godwin Igwe, called on public spirited individuals to assist the woman take care of the children.

He said, “the three children and their mother just repatriated from the Enugu Ministry of Gender and Women Affairs to Ebonyi. The woman is from Ishielu local government area of Ebonyi State. When we interviewed her, she said she is finding it very difficult to survive let alone feed her children. She said her purported husband abandoned her and the children in April”.

“She said it was very difficult for her to be carrying the third child of eight months old for menial jobs and she became a wanderer. So, the Enugu state government repatriated her. Her mother is late and the father is very old and has nothing doing.

“Her major problem is how to eke a living. She said if the government or public spirited individual can assist her, she is ready to take care of her children.

“If she is allowed to continue to wander in the streets, the children are at risk and if anybody approaches her for the children, she can easily release the children to the person and they will become victims of child trafficking. So, the Enugu government did not repatriate her out of malice or hatred but for safety of the children.”

NAPTIP Rescues 50 Victims Of Human Trafficking In Kano

The Kano Zonal Command of National Agency for the prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and other Related Matters (NAPTIP) on Sunday said it had rescued no fewer than 50 victims of human trafficking within two months.

 

The NAPTIP Zonal Commander, Mr Shehu Umar said in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kano that the victims were rescued from February to date.

 

He said the victims who comprised males and females, had since been reunited with their respective families.

 

He disclosed that the command had recorded 23 cases of trafficking, child labour, sexual exploitation and other related cases within the period under review.

He said out of the cases, 11 female suspects were involved while the remaining suspects were males.

 

“The cases have been investigated and one was on sexual abuse, two on child labour, one on abduction and another one on stolen baby.

“Among the cases, some do not fall within our jurisdiction so were transferred them to police for proper prosecution “, he said.

 

Umar said the command had within the period secured two convictions at the Federal High Court, Kano pointing out that the remaining cases were still pending in the court.

He called on the Federal Government to come to the aid of the agency by allocating more funds to enable it carry out its activities effectively.

 

“Our activities require a lot of funding if we are to carry out investigation, rescued victims have to be transported to their states and some times we have to take care of them.

“We also conduct counselling exercise for the rescued victims, identify their needs and even rehabilitate them”, he said.

 

He called on the people particularly parents to support the agency in the fight against human trafficking and other related offences.

 

 

(NAN)

NAPTIP nabs Dubai-based human trafficking syndicate

The National Agency for The Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and other Related Matters on Tuesday paraded five suspected members of a human trafficking syndicate based in Dubia.

The suspects were paraded by the Lagos Zonal Command of NAPTIP after they were arrested for trafficking two girls, Ann and Chisom, whose other surnames were withheld by the command.

 

The agency’s Public Relations Officer, Mr Josaiah Emerole, said that one of the victims, Ann, had returned safely to Nigeria while Chisom was out of the reach of her traffickers.

 

Emerole added that the agency was in touch with her and working with other partners to assist her.

 

He added that officials of the agency swung into action after two separate videos of the young girls swearing to an oath to prostitution went viral on social media.

 

He said the videos had caused the country a huge embarrassment and the culprits needed to be brought to book.

 

“You may recall that early in Aug this year, the media, especially the social media was awash with nude visuals of two of our citizens, Ann and Chisom.

 

“They were filmed and uploaded by some of our unpatriotic citizens engaged in trafficking of girls from Nigeria to Dubai, the United Arab Emirate for sexual exploitation.

 

“The nude visuals caused some uproar within many circles in Nigeria and raised questions among our international partners.

 

“The videos showed the two girls being forced to swear to an oath of allegiance separately while nude,’’ he told journalists.

 

“They were made to claim that they came to Dubai on their own volition to engage in prostitution and ready to obey their madams without reporting to anybody.

 

“The women that filmed the video threatened to upload the nude visuals if the girls did not act accordingly.

 

“The blackmail videos are part of the Dubai syndicate’s control mechanism which also include oath taking and confiscation of travel documents to ensure submission.’’

 

Emerole added that the suspects had been handed over to officials of NAPTIP for further investigation.

 

“The Director-General of NAPTIP, Mrs Beatrice Jedy-Agba, needs to bring to the knowledge of the public recent developments in our efforts to stem the tide of trafficking in persons in Nigeria.

 

“Especially the arrest of suspected members of a Dubai based Human Trafficking Syndicate and their accomplices.

 

“Based on this despicable and criminal act in the fight against human trafficking, the agency went into action in collaboration with other sister law enforcement agencies.

 

“The aim is to locally and internationally fish out these criminals and their agents in Nigeria and to rescue the victims,’’ he said.

 

Emerole added that other traffickers who were not yet in the custody of NAPTIP would be apprehended soon.

“On Sept. 8, 2015, officers of the Lagos Zonal Command arrested the Dubai based trafficker who took Ann out of the country.

“She was tracked and apprehended at Agboroko Village, Iba New Site, Lagos, where she was in hiding having sneaked into the country for her traditional wedding.

 

“Earlier surveillance and raid operations by NAPTIP officers were at two residents in Lekki Phase 1 and Oke-Ira Nla, Ajah, Lagos led to the arrest of two others.

 

“Investigations have identified them as suspected recruiters for the Dubai syndicate.

 

“The owner of a hideout for girls, from where one of the victims Chisom was recruited and trafficked to Dubai was also apprehended,’’ Emerole said.

He added that the key suspect’s sister was also apprehended for her role in the trafficking ring.

“Preliminary investigations indicate that the suspect has other accomplices in Dubai and that efforts are underway to track them,’’ he said.

The spokesman added that the owner of the hideout where the girls were kept had confessed that she knew the victims.

Emerole said that all the activities were in violation of the trafficking in persons Enforcement and Administration Act, 2015.

“Consequently, the suspects so far arrested and interrogated would be arraigned soon.

 

“Efforts are also being intensified at the diplomatic level to track all other members of this syndicate who are still in Dubai.

 

“The fight against human trafficking is one that we freely chose as a responsible member of the international community and to protect the dignity of our people.

 

“We will not shirk this responsibility as an agency because the image of our country damaged by these unpatriotic persons must be restored through our collective efforts,’’ he said.

 

(NAN)