Benin City — The Edo State Migration Agency has rescued two teenage girls, ages 13 and 14, bound for Libya, and an 18-year-old woman who survived a trafficking ordeal in Mali after fleeing under the guise of a job offer in Lagos.
Lucky Agazuma, Director-General of the Edo State Migration Agency, paraded the rescued minors before journalists, revealing that the 13-year-old suffers from sickle cell. They were intercepted in Zaria, Kaduna State following a tip-off. Agazuma questioned how someone with sickle cell could survive the harsh conditions on the desert route.
One of the girls narrated how she was lured by a boy who told her not to inform her parents. She said she was taken to a woman who photographed her and passed on her details to an accomplice. Food, a hijab, and instructions to travel via Kano were given. Along the way, her contact told her that her mother had been arrested, prompting her to return home after money was transferred to a driver.
The 18-year-old, Joseph Faith, said she accepted what she believed was a sales job in Lagos only to be trafficked to Mali, where she was forced into prostitution. She resisted by refusing to comply, and for food relied on occasional alms or being given money by passersby. Faith managed to contact police in Mali, who helped her return to Nigeria.
Agazuma warned those involved in trafficking, especially transport companies, to desist. Some companies have been identified via receipts and other documentation recovered from the minors. He said suspects will be prosecuted. “If you’re a trafficker, be warned that we are very close to you. It is better if you move away from Edo State,” the DG said.
