Two suspects, Favour Idemudia, 16, and Precious Akpasuvbe, 25, have been taken into custody by the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC (Edo State Police Command), on suspicion of smuggling a 16-year-old girl into Burkina Faso for prostitution.
On February 5, Gbegan Agu, the State Commandant, revealed this in a statement. Agu said, “Immediately, a combined team of NSCDC intelligence and counter-terrorism units swung into action and arrested the principal suspect, identified as Alex Omoseve, 47, boyfriend of Precious Akpasuvbe, at the Agbor Park area of Benin City.
“During the investigation, the Corps discovered that the missing girl was trafficked to Burkina Faso for prostitution without her parents’ consent.
“The suspects confessed to the crime, and the victim has been brought back from Burkina Faso and reunited with her family.”
The victim claimed in a press interview that the suspect, who frequently visited her sister’s shop to play betting games, had offered to send her abroad to work as a housemaid. On getting there, she was told that her duty in Burkina Faso was to sleep with guys, she broke down in tears. Her sister didn’t know about her journey, so she subsequently pleaded with someone who handed her a phone to inform her sister. That’s how she got back to Nigeria.
Alex Omoseve, the main suspect, claimed to have known the victim at her sister’s store where he used to play games of chance.
He claimed that once the victim expressed her desire to go, he helped her by introducing her to his girlfriend, who had contacts in Burkina Faso.He claimed that since he didn’t know anyone in Burkina Faso, he introduced the victim to his girlfriend, who then made the decision to help her.
They brought the victim to Burkina Faso for prostitution, Precious Akpasuvbe told reporters. She also acknowledged that her accomplice in Burkina Faso had paid them N200,000.