From Godwin Agia, Jalingo
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Taraba State Command has rescued sixteen victims and paraded two suspects for involvement in human trafficking.
The suspects; Daniel Mading and Federation Markus were apprehended over the weekend at the Jalingo Main Motor Park trying to convey their sixteen victims who are between the ages of ten and sixteen years to Benin, Edo State.
The sixteen victims comprised of five (5) females and eleven(11) males from Zing and Bali Local Government Areas of Taraba State, where the inhuman trade is currently gaining much patronage.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspects are part of a bigger syndicate that specializes in trafficking underage children with the promise of a brighter future in far away Edo State which usually turns out to be untrue as the kids are plunged into all kinds of dehumanizing menial jobs and the proceeds of such jobs are confiscated from them by their handlers.
Addressing newsmen in Jalingo, the Commandant, NSCDC Taraba State Command, Adamu Salihu decried the rate at which parents adjudicate their responsibility in raising their children to strangers who end up harming them or exposing them to avoidable danger.
“How can one give birth to children and expect others to take responsibility for their feeding, clothing, education, and general well-being?” He asked rhetorically.
Commandant Adamu further explained that most of the children taken from the state are sold into child labor and prostitution while the others are used as materials for baby factories, organ harvesting, and money rituals.
He lamented that all the victims of this heinous crime are children who are of school age but forced to leave school by their parents and relatives even though the Taraba State government has made basic education free and compulsory for all children in the state.
“His Excellency the Governor of Taraba State, Dr. Agbu Kefas has introduced free education in the state so that even the children of the less privileged can go to school but some parents rather than taking advantage of this good gesture are selling their children to unknown persons in the name of seeking greener pastures for the kids. This trend must stop forthwith”.
The Commandant called on all stakeholders involved to take adequate measures to ensure that this menace is completely halted in the state.
Meanwhile, the two suspects and their victims have been handed over to NAPTIP for further investigation and prosecution while other members of the child trafficking syndicate in Jalingo and Benin are still being tracked for possible arrest and prosecution.
