NAPTIP foils trafficking of 6 women in Benue
The National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Makurdi Zonal Command, has foiled the trafficking of six young women to a foreign country from Benue State.
NAPTIP Zonal Commander, Mrs Gloria Iveren Bai, at the weekend disclosed this in a statement made available to newsmen in Makurdi.
Bai stated that the command had in the early hours of Friday received a call from a concerned citizen alerting them of the suspected case of trafficking involving seven women who were about to travel from Duku park at Wurukum in Makurdi.
She noted that the operatives of the command, upon their arrival at the park, met the women who claimed they were travelling to Lagos, adding that on further probing, the seventh of them was discovered to be the suspected trafficker.
Bai disclosed further that the suspected trafficker was found with about N500,000 and some foreign currencies in her possession, indicating that the six victims aged between 16 and 24 by facial analysis were to be moved to destinations outside the country yet to be determined.
Bai added that the women were all moved to the police station in company of NAPTIP operatives and then handed over to the agency for further investigation and possible prosecution.
“We would like to thank the management of Duku motor park and the concerned citizens who alerted the authorities.
“I want to use this opportunity to also call on everyone to be on the lookout for such indicators, especially promises of lucrative jobs outside the state and abroad.
“We also want to serve a warning to the traffickers to desist from this evil act or be prepared to face the wrath of the law,” the NAPTIP commander warned.