Two young girls from Edo State, aged13 and 14, one of them a sickle cell patient, have been saved from suspected sex slavery by the Edo Migration Agency (EDMA) which aborted their journey to Libya in Zaria, Kaduna State.
The minors had already gotten to Zaria in Kaduna State when their trafficker changed his mind and directed them to return because his mother, Mrs. Comfort Etim, had been arrested by the police. They reportedly left Edo on Sunday but returned on Wednesday night.
A visibly bewildered Director General of EDMA, Lucky Agazumah, vowed to ensure that the traffickers faced justice.
According to Agazumah, “The question is, how would a sickle cell girl survive in the desert? The good news is that when we brought them back, they were smart enough to come back with some evidence of receipts of the transport companies they are using in this state to traffic minors out. Based on this evidence, we have already reached out to many transport companies that they shouldn’t involve themselves in this devilish act.”
Declaring that the agency would not fold its arms and watch Edo children trafficked out of the country at a time the state government was spending billions of naira to make sure Edo children have access to quality education, Agazumah stated that all suspects arrested in connection with the case would be prosecuted in line with the appropriate laws.
Appealing to members of the public to report any suspicious case of human trafficking to the agency, the EDMA boss warned, “If you’re a trafficker, be warned that we are very close to you. It is better if you move away from Edo State.”
Speaking at the premises of the agency, the girls said they were told they were going to Italy to work as maids to an old couple but warned not to tell their parents.
They claimed their sponsor placed them in a bus and gave them a number to call when they got to Kano State.
One of the two minors said, “The boy told me his sister is in Italy and that she and her husband were old. He said they don’t have any children. He told me not to tell my mother. He said we should call our parents when we get to abroad. They said the second girl does not look well but she said she is well.
She said they were taken to a lady who took their photograph and sent it via phone to another person, who complained of her health, but the lady with them assured the person at the other end that she was healthy.
She further explained that they were asked to go and take their bath, after which they went back to the lady.
“They took us to a motor- park in Aduwawa and placed us inside a bus to Kano State. He told the driver we are going to Kano and gave us a number to call when we got to Kano. He gave us hijab, milk, golden morn and water. I am happy that I am back home”, she recounted.
The 14-year-old sickle cell patient told journalists that a boy in her neighbourhood lured them into the journey, and she agreed because she wanted to surprise her mother when she got to Italy.
According to her, “The boy told me his sister is 78 years. I said if I go, I will surprise my mother. I told them my body is sound. He told us to wear the hijab when we get to Kano. We are to call a man in Kano who will take us in from there. When we got to Zaria, he called that we should come home but the Kaduna man asked us to continue the journey.”
Mother of the suspected trafficker, 49-year-old Mrs. Comfort Etim, insisted she was innocent in the matter, but admitted that the girls were brought to her daughter by a boy who claimed they were his sisters and that he wanted them to be taken abroad. She said her daughter interrogated the children before she accepted to take them to the motor-park.
Mrs. Etim also confessed that her daughter, now on the run, had so far trafficked six minors abroad.
