From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has confirmed the arrest of three suspected members of interstate human trafficking syndicates who specialized in the recruitment, harbouring and trafficking of young girls from other parts of the country to the northern region for sexual exploitation.
NAPTIP said that three suspected victims of the human trafficking, who are from Benue (2) and Rivers States (1) with age ranges from 21 to 26 years old were rescued during the operation which was conducted by officials of the Katsina State Command of the Agency.
NAPTIP spokesman, Vincent Adekoye, in a statement, on Wednesday, noted that preliminary investigation revealed that the suspects were the major suppliers of victims to brothels and other notorious centres, including some neighbouring countries.
NAPTIP said the victims claimed they were deceived, recruited, and trafficked to Katsina State with a promise of a legitimate job, only to be forced into prostitution against their will.
She quoted one of the victims saying that,”I was brought here by a woman (name withheld) who promised to give us a job and that we would be paid very well.
“I asked her the details of the job, but she said I would know the nature of the job when I got to my destination . When we got here, she forced us into prostitution, which was not part of what they told us before. We actually slept with a lot of men, at least, 20 men a day, and all the money we got went into the chairlady of the place, Amarachi.
“Even when we were on our monthly period, we were being forced to sleep with the same number of men. Even when we were sick or tired, they would force us to sleep with men. They said it was not their business to know how we felt, but to engage in prostitution. They would give us energy drink each to take every evening so that we would have energy to work, be awake to sleep with the men, and make money for them. They would take all the money we made and left us to feed ourselves”, the victim lamented .
Director General of NAPTIP, Binta Adamu Bello, in her reaction, expressed worry over the activities of some hotel operators across the country that harbour victims of human trafficking. “The hotel manager has been arrested. We are also taking steps to sanction the hotel in line with the provisions of the trafficking law.
“I wish to commend the operatives of NAPTIP in Katsina for the intelligence, raid and rescue of the victims. The stories of these victims are pathetic, painful and sad. They were obviously deceived, recruited, trafficked, and forced into prostitution. While they are facing horror every day from prostitution, their traffickers were somewhere within the same hotel, feeding fat on the proceeds of the exploitation
“It is also important to reiterate our earlier warning to operators of hotels aiding and abetting the exploitation of victims of human trafficking in their facilities. We have commenced a legal process to determine the next execution order for the hotel. The law shall definitely take its course”, she said.