From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Operatives of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) with the support of the Department of State Services (DSS), Imo State Command, have rescued a middle – aged Burundian woman and her three children suspected to have been trafficked in a village in Imo State.
NAPTIP in a statement released in Abuja, on Wednesday, disclosed the identity of the rescued victims as Ms Siniremera Snadrine Bizimana and her three children, namely, Murwaneza Zertha Maecy, Akimana ken Bethel and Umwiza Goodluck Collins, and that they were rescued at Umunoha village in Mbaitolu Local Government Area of Imo State.
NAPTIP said its investigation revealed that the victims were rescued based on a complaint from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees lodged at the headquarters of NAPTIP in Abuja, and further directive from the Director General of the Agency, Dr. Fatima Waziri–Azi.
It said that, in cause of the investigation, they found out that the victims have refugee status in Kenya, and were trafficked to Lagos, by yet-to-be identified human trafficker in September 2021, and thereafter moved to Imo State where their forced into menial labour.
NAPTIP also confirmed that the travel documents of the victims and other valuable personal belongings were also confiscated by the unknown trafficker in the process.
Imo State Commander of NAPTIP, Mr. Earnest Ogbu, stated that account from the victims indicated that they might have been deceived by the trafficker into coming to Nigeria and a remote village in Imo State without any resistance.
Meanwhile, the Director General of NAPTIP, Dr. Fatima Waziri–Azi, thanked all the stakeholders and partners who provided information and assisted in ensuring a successful operation that led to the rescue of the victims.
She specifically appreciated the effort and collaboration of the Imo State Command of the Department State Services for providing the needed operational support.
She assured that those behind the ordeal of the victims would be identified and prosecuted. “I have directed our operatives to carry out diligent investigation on how the victims got to the village. I am hopeful that the traffickers would be identified and made to face justice”, she stated.