A human trafficking ring that was operating in Ibadan, the capital of the state, was discovered by the Oyo State Police Command.
During the course of the operation, the authorities were able to rescue 83 people, including a toddler, who were purportedly being held captive in a residential building located in the Orogun neighborhood.
According to the first findings of the investigation, the victims, who are believed to be citizens of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, were enticed into Nigeria by false promises of rich employment possibilities.
Under the guise of gaining the alleged jobs, the authorities also allege that the traffickers extorted huge quantities of money, paid in United States dollars, from the families of the victims.
As additional investigations continue to unearth the full nature of the operation, the individuals who were rescued are currently receiving care and support at the Police Headquarters in Eleyele, which is Ibadan.
The State Police Command of Oyo has made a commitment to bring all of the individuals responsible for the trafficking operations to justice and has asked the general public to maintain vigilance against these activities.
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Earlier this month on April 1st, Superintendent of Police Ayuba Umma, the Lagos zonal spokesperson, stated in a statement released that agents working at the Assistant Inspector-General (AIG) Zone 2 in Onikan, Lagos, had detained suspected cultists and human traffickers.
The AIG Zone 2 made an arrest of a person suspected of being a cultist and a human trafficker.
Superintendent Francis Kpoughul of the Zonal Intelligence Response Squad (ZIRS) raided the human trafficking syndicate’s stronghold at Command Meran, Lagos, on March 22, and arrested Stella Edem and Susan Michael.
Umma stated that Edem admitted to the crime, and she said that Rosemary Isaiah Otobong, who is currently serving time in a prison in Nigeria, and Anabel, a woman from Mauritania, were the ones who introduced her to the business.
“She added that Anabel contracted her to recruit young girls below 22 years to be used as sex workers in Mauritania and that she was being paid N50,000 as commission on each young girl sent to Mauritania.
“She confessed that among other girls she recruited is her 19-year-old daughter, citing that she has so far received over N500,000 from Anabel.
Michael revealed that Edem hired her to recruit young females to work as domestic staff in Mauritania, but she later found they were sex workers.
“She said she withdrew from the said business, adding that the only girl she sent to Stella Edem was rejected due to age and body size and it was at that point she felt something wasn’t right.”
