Some of the rescued victims
THE Nigeria Immigration Service, Akwa Ibom State Command, on Wednesday intercepted and rescued 22 foreigners, who were illegally trafficked into the country.
The foreigners, who were intercepted at the Young Shall Grow Motor Park, Uyo, are 21 Togolese and one Ghanaian.
The Comptroller, Mr. Emmanuel Gbuuga, told journalists that one Solomon, a Lome-based Togolese, paid their transport fares from Lagos State to Oron, Akwa Ibom State, where one Kosbe, was to pick them in transit to Gabon.
He said all the trafficked victims were promised good jobs.
Gbuuga said Kosbe, who lives in Oron, disappeared when he heard that the victims had been intercepted by the command, adding that Solomon was also at large.
Among the Togolese are nine females whose ages range from 15 to 18 years, while there are 11 males between the ages of 18 and 38 years.
Gbuuga said, “We discovered that Kosbe was in contact with one of the victims (Mr. Yawari Ekouele) via the following telephone numbers: 08026561138, 08020840439, 08037857493 and 07084969142. During one of such calls, which we intercepted, Kosbe advised the victims not to divulge information to us.
“As a result of the advice, they refused to co-operate. Consequently, it was difficult to uncover more revealing information. None of the victims even seemed to know the address of Solomon, the sponsor of their journey to Oron in transit to Gabon. All they gave out was his telephone number +22993226902.
“From all indications and our interrogations, this case has all the characteristics of human trafficking and child labour for export. There is recruitment, transportation, deception, debt bondage and irregular migration.
“Our interrogation revealed that they were promised good jobs in Gabon by one Solomon, a Lome- based Togolese. None of them has any letter of appointment, which presupposes that they have been recruited for menial jobs or they are to provide cheap labour.”
The comptroller said none of the 22 trafficked victims had valid travel documents, adding that three of the victims had their national identity cards, while three others had their political party registration cards.
He noted that the act was a breach of Economic Community of West African States protocol on free movement of people within the sub-region.
Gbuuga warned that the command would make the Akwa Ibom route unprofitable and unattractive to human traffickers.
He urged members of the public to be vigilant and report the presence of suspected human traffickers to security agencies.
Gbuuga said that the victims would be handed over to the National Agency for Prohibition of Traffic in Persons and other Related Matters for prosecution.
Source:http://www.punchng.com/
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