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From Jude Owuamanam, Jos
Task Force on Anti-Human Trafficking and Child Abuse in Plateau state said that it has arrested 183 persons in a midnight raid on suspected hideouts for child traffickers and their victims.
Chairman of the task force, who is also the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Philemon Daffi, said that all suspects were apprehended in a surprise mass arrest carried out in the early hours of Saturday.
Addressing newsmen in his office on Saturday, Daffi said that among those arrested were three pregnant women, 7 female minors, 41 female adults, 9 male minors and 123 male adults.
He said that those arrested would be profiled to determine suspect and victims, adding that at the end of the profiling the perpetrators would be prosecuted and the victims reunited with their families.
He said, “In the surprise raid carried out by the task force, thee pregnant women, seven female minors, 41 female adults, nine male minors and 123 male adults have been arrested by the taskforce, and we are in the process of profiling them. At the end of the profiling the suspects will be prosecuted white the victims will be handed over to their families.
He said operation was an, “overwhelming success, resulting in several strategic arrests and the rescue of numerous vulnerable citizens who had been trapped in the shadows of societal decay.”
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According to him, the Taskforce has adopted a zero-tolerance approach to human trafficking and child exploitation, stressing that child prostitution would henceforth be treated strictly as a form of modern-day slavery and a gross violation of the Child’s Rights Law.
He warned that adults who patronise minors would face full prosecution, adding that such individuals would be treated as offenders, not customers.
Daffe said the Taskforce, would also move against hotels, brothels, and other establishments found to be harbouring minors for illicit activities, adding under a new “Seal, Seize, and Demolish” policy, properties linked to human trafficking or child prostitution will be shut down, forfeited to the state, or demolished where necessary.
The Attorney-General further cautioned families against complicity in trafficking, stating that parents or relatives who aid or neglect their children into exploitation would be held criminally liable.
He assured that the government was strengthening victim rehabilitation structures and enhancing the operational capacity of the Taskforce through specialised training and improved infrastructure.
While warning traffickers that there would be no hiding place for perpetrators of such crimes, the attorney general said the task force remains committed to sanitising Plateau State and restoring its identity as the home of peace and tourismm
