By Stanley Onyekwere
The FCT command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps ( NSCDC) have disclosed the rescue of sixteen persons from a suspected notorious human trafficking transit camp, in Zuba area of Abuja, the nation’s capital city.
It was gathered that the alleged victims; comprising of four males and twelve females, were picked up during a coordinated raid on the said camp in a Zuba community, following months of close monitoring by NSCDC operatives.
Also, all rescued victims, mainly young persons of different states of origin were subsequently taken to the FCT Command of the Corps and handed over to officials of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) for necessary action.
Speaking during a brief handover ceremony, Commandant of the NSCDC, FCT Command, Mathias Ohieme, noted that available information revealed that victims were lured into it with series of lies that they will be given opportunities to go to schools and jobs.
Ohieme, explained that the handing over the victims to NAPTIP, was because it’s their primary function to handle matters like that, which the agency is expected to carry out its own investigation.
He however noted that the operatives of the Corps are still tracking down the main suspected kingpin of the group behind the illicit trafficking, adding that they are going to work together with NAPTIP on tackling the problem in FCT.
“We have been monitoring the camp located somewhere in Zuba, for close to two months, and when we discovered that we have enough victims, and the camp was bursted and we pick the young men and ladies.
“Some of the female victims are even married, one is a widow. It’s only one person that is just 17 years old, others are 18 and above. We gathered that they were lured into it with series of lies that they will be given opportunities to go to schools and jobs .
“NAPTIP has been educating people and the federal government through the Ministry of Information passing out information that traveling to Europe through the desert is not advisable, but you still see people coming together and sending their kids to where they would just go and die. They suffer for nothing, so I would advise that parents should please desist from encouraging their children to go,” he stated.
The NSCDC-FCT boss added that the raid is not a one-off thing as it is going to be a continuous exercise, as the Corps would continue working together with the NAPTIP on eradicating the menace.
“This is going to continue as we are going to be tracking the so called Alhaji that claimed they paid money to, who is linking them up with some body in the north. We will track forward and backward, from where they are coming from, and where they are going to,” he affirmed.
