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From Scholastica Hir, Makurdi
Benue Links, a transport company owned by the Benue State Government said it has rescued 19 children trafficked outside the state in the last two weeks.
The General Manager of the company, Comrade Alexander Fanafa, disclosed this while speaking to newsmen in Makurdi at the weekend.
Fanafa who highlighted several successes achieved so far by the company, said Benue links was committed to working with the relevant agencies of government like the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) to ensure a trafficking-free society.
The GM who noted that the company recovered five children last week said “Somebody was taking them to Jos in Plateau State and when we asked we discovered it was a trafficking case.
“Last two weeks, we recovered 11 from Lagos back to Makurdi and we handed them over to NAPTIP; some days ago we recovered two and on Wednesday last week, we recovered one and handed over the child to the parents in Zaki-Biam.
“In fact, we transported the girl from Lagos to Makurdi and from Makurdi to Zaki-Biam, free of charge and the manager in Zaki-Biam went to the house and handed over the child to her people.”
Fanafa who noted the rise in cases of trafficking across the country said Benue Links is one of the transport companies working with NAPTIP in Nigeria.
He said: “We have safety officers. We have used Benue Links as a transport company to stop trafficking of children from Benue to other places. We have become the only company to recover those who have been trafficked and those that were discovered from elsewhere.
“In fact, children who were trafficked from Benue to other states using other transport companies, once discovered, Benue Links is bringing them back to Benue State free of charge, and then reuniting them with their families.
“We are one transport company that will monitor you very carefully. I have undergone that training personally, our safety officers, our security officers, our traffic officers as well as our monitoring officers have undergone the training with NAPTIP so we can use our eagle eyes to know when a child is being trafficked.
Fanafa who noted that the company is operating in 35 states of the federation including the Federal the company to continually cooperate with NAPTIP to ensure a free trafficking society in Benue and in Nigeria as a whole.
