The Bayelsa Command of Nigerian Security and Civil
Defence Corps (NSCDC) on Saturday said that it has arrested a girl child
trafficking syndicate and freed two victims in Bayelsa.
Mr Godwin Nwachukwu, State Commandant of NSCDC in Bayelsa
said during a press conference at the Command’s headquarters in Yenagoa that
the raid was sequel to a report by a civil society group.
He said that Bayelsa chapter of Association for Awareness Against Anti-Social
Behaviour (AFAAAB) had informed the NSCDC to the activities of the suspected
human traffic syndicate in Igbogene area of Yenagoa.
He said that a raid of the suspect’s hideout on May 15
led to the arrest of the principal suspect, Mrs Joy Victor, 27 and two female
victims aged 16 ad 17 who were trafficked to Ghana for prostitution.
“Further investigations revealed that the two female minors
aged 16 and 17, victims of the human trafficking syndicate alleged that Victor
had lured and trafficked them to Ghana , enroute Lagos on April 17, 2018 for prostitution.
“They were trafficked in the guise of working as sales
girls and house maidby connecting them to a lady simply known as Rita in Kumasi,
Ghana who operates a syndicate of child trafficking and prostitution rings.
“The victims said that while in Ghana they were subjected
to sexual slavery and forced have sexual intercourse with more than 20 mean
each and also asked to pay N700,000 each before they will be freed to operate
on their own.
“After their exposure to prostitution, the two victims
were assisted out of captivity by the Ghanaian Police and deported back to
Nigeria.
“Our preliminary investigations show that the principal
suspect Mrs Joy Victoria has been in the illicit child trafficking business for
many years.
“We also suspect that she probably controls a cartel that
specialises in trafficking teenage girls from Bayelsa to Ghana for prostitution,”
Nwachukwu stated.
Nwachukwu said that the Bayelsa Command would transfer and
hand over the cases to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking
in Persons (NAPTIP) for prosecution once it concludes its investigations.
He appealed to parents to guide their children against
vices and nuture them to becoming leaders of tomorrow and assured that the
NSCDC was committed to fighting human trafficking and related offences in
Bayelsa.
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