The Nigerian Immigration Service,
Oyo State Command, on Saturday
paraded a pastor, Olufemi Timothy,
and four others accused of child
trafficking in Ibadan. The command
also paraded 12 boys and four girls
allegedly being used by the
accused persons in a slavery ring.
The Controller of the command,
Innocent Akatu, said the accused
persons were apprehended in
various locations in Ibadan, adding
that they would be handed over to
the National Agency for the
Prohibition of Traffic in Persons for
legal actions.
Our correspondent, who was at the
command when the culprits and
their victims were handed over to
NAPTIP officials from Lagos,
observed that the children were
not well fed and clothed. One of the
children, who identified herself as
Glory, said that she had been in
Nigeria for three years without
being paid. She could not recognise
places where she had worked or
whom she had worked for. She also
said her mother was told by
someone that she was coming to
Nigeria to work and earn good
money.
Akatu said, “Human trafficking is a
serious crime that we are trying to
end. We have very young children
being taken away from their
parents under the pretext that the
traffickers would get jobs for them
or give them a better standard of
living. Many of them are brought
into Nigeria from Benin Republic,
Togo and other neighbouring
countries. They are sold into
slavery by those who brought them
into the country.”
He made reference to a boy of nine
years old, who was brought to
Ibadan from Benue by his brother
and sold into slavery, saying, “He
does not know where he is. These
children do not receive the wages
paid for them. The money goes to
the people who brought them. So
it’s pure slavery. In the past, when
we arrested children like these, we
reconciled them with their parents.
Even the foreigners would be taken
to their countries. But we now felt
that the method did not help to
check the problem. That is why we
are handing them over to NAPTIP
for appropriate legal action,” Akatu
said.
While explaining how Timothy and
12 of the victims were arrested in
Iwo Road area of Ibadan, the
controller said the pastor was
arrested with another man who
brought the children from Benin
Republic.
In an attempt to exonerate himself,
Timothy said he had only come
from his farm to help a labourer
when he was apprehended.
He said, “I am a pastor and a farmer.
There is a labourer in my farm who
called me from Ibadan. He said he
was stranded in the city. I ran down
quickly to help him out at Iwo Road.
He had 12 children with him from
Benin Republic but I never knew he
had such people in his company.
He was travelling to Ikire with them
but my farm is in Ajoda Farm
Settlement. I cannot deny knowing
him but all I was trying to do was to
help him, not knowing that he was
trafficking children to Nigeria. I
have foreigners in my farm but I
don’t know how they entered into
Nigeria. They were already here
before I employed them.”
by ROTMANLUV 2023-07-08, 17:34
