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From Tony Osauzo, Benin
Two Edo State female minors aged 13 and 14, with one of them a Sickle cell sufferer, have been rescued from being trafficked abroad enroute to Libya.
Their rescue in Zaria, Kaduna State, came when their trafficker pressured them to return following the arrest of his mother, Comfort Etim, by police in Benin City.
The kidnap victims reportedly left Edo on Sunday, but returned on Wednesday night.
Narrating their ordeals at the premises of the Edo Migration Agency in Benin, the girls said they were told they would be taken to Italy to work as maid to an old couple,but that they should not tell their parents.
They disclosed that their sponsor ,who obviously works in collaboration with a female trafficker, placed them in a bus and gave them a number to call when they get to Kano State.
One of the victims, Success said, “The boy told me her 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.
“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 get to Kano. He gave his hijab, milk, golden morn and water. I am happy that I am back home”, she said.
On her part, the other victim, who is suffering from Sickle cell, said she wanted to surprise her mother when she get to Italy.
“The boy told me her 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”, she stated.
Mother of the suspected trafficker, Comfort Etim, said her daughter had previously taken six minors to Libya.
She said her daughter interrogated the children before she accepted to take them to the motor park.
In his remarks, Director General of the Migration Agency, Lucky Agazumah, said the transport firm responsible for transporting unaccompanied minors would be sanctioned.
Agazumah said other co-conspirators have been arrested and vowed to ensure the traffickers face justice .
