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NAPTIP rescues 14 victims, arrests 3 suspected human traffickers in Kogi

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2 years ago

July 4, 2022

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The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has arrested three suspected human traffickers and rescued 14 victims in the process.

The Public Relations Officer of the agency,Nneka Aniagoh, disclosed this in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday, NAN reports.

Aniagoh stated that the suspects and their victims were arrested by men of the Nigeria Army in Lokoja, Kogi and handed over the victims to NAPTIP through the Nigeria Immigration Service, (NIS).

She identified the suspects as, two females, Evelyn Jerry (27), Rebecca Stephen (30) and Richard Patrick (38) were intercepted by men of the Nigeria Army on official duty in Lokoja, Kogi.

She said, “They were handed over to the Nigerian Immigration Service in Lokoja before they were subsequently handed over to NAPTIP,’’

”The victims made of nine males and five females, aged between three and 13 years.

“They were crammed into an eight-seater Alhambra Sedan vehicle with Plateau registration number, where they were struggling for space.

“They were taken from Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau and were on their way to Ekpoma, Edo.

“The suspects are from the same town with the victims, and they confessed that they were taking the children to Ekpoma to be distributed to various households for labour purposes,’’ she said.

She said that the suspects claimed that the parents of the 14 victims gave their consents for them to be taken away for domestic labour.