From Scholastica Hir, Makurdi
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), on Tuesday, confirmed the rescue of five Benue girls trafficked to Côte d’Ivoire for prostitution.
The girls, aged between 18 and 21, were seen in a video circulating on social media, speaking Tiv and mentioning their names and ages.
Sources revealed that the girls were trafficked to Côte d’Ivoire for prostitution by a woman based in Jato Aka, Kwande Local Government Area of Benue State. The girls said the woman sold them for ₦400,000 each.
Confirming the incident, the NAPTIP Zonal Commander in Makurdi, Mrs Gloria Bai, said the girls had been rescued and were currently with the Nigerian Embassy in Côte d’Ivoire.
Speaking to the Daily Sun in her office in Makurdi on Tuesday, Mrs Bai said their attention was drawn to the group of rescued girls in Côte d’Ivoire on Monday, July 1, 2024.
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“We have seen the girls and the video. They are in Côte d’Ivoire. For now, there are five of them, and we spoke to them yesterday. They are safe at the Nigerian Embassy in Côte d’Ivoire,” she said.
“As of this morning, arrangements are being made for them to be brought back to the country, and we are monitoring the situation to ensure they are brought back safely and handed over to us.”
The Zonal Commander said they had initiated an investigation into the case. She also informed the Daily Sun that the woman identified by the girls as being responsible for their predicament had been arrested.
“She was picked up yesterday and is currently with the Nigerian Police in Kwande. We are also working with the police to have an audience with her to ascertain her involvement,” she said.
Mrs Bai described the case as a rude awakening and regretted that the video, being shared widely on social media, exposed the girls’ identities.
“This is another rude awakening. It’s unfortunate that the video went viral because the identities of the girls have been exposed.
“It’s also a wake-up call for us. We shouldn’t be in denial that our girls are being taken out of the country daily to other African countries for all sorts of exploitation,” she said.
She noted that they were looking forward to meeting the girls to profile them and understand the exact circumstances that led to them being in Côte d’Ivoire.
The President of the Benue Association in Côte d’Ivoire, Chief Joseph Onah, told the Daily Sun that the girls were rescued by the Benue Community in Côte d’Ivoire.
He said one of his members, a Tiv man, found them in the ghetto where they were camped after he heard them speaking Tiv.
Mr Onah noted that while five of the six girls had been rescued, the youngest, a 14-year-old, was yet to be found. He stated that the Benue Community in Côte d’Ivoire was working with security agencies to rescue her and others they had also discovered.
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