The Operatives of Rapid Response Squad of Lagos State Police
Command have arrested a suspected human trafficker and rescued two teenage
girls that were in the process of being trafficked through Lagos to Abidjan,
Ivory Coast for commercial sex work.
The suspect, Martha Edea, 30, a mother of two from Ogoja in
Cross River State, was nabbed in Lagos after traveling with the young girls
from Benin, Edo State.
During interrogation with the Police, Martha confessed that she
was trafficked to Ivory Coast by one Mariam who told her there were chances of
securing a good job in the country where she was taken to but she was later
introduced to sex work where she slaved for months in paying back her custodian
who brought her to Abidjan.
" I worked for three months to pay Mariam about 300,000
Cefa (N180, 000) to balance her for my transportation into Ivory Coast and also
for connecting me", she said. Adding that Mariam after collecting the
money travelled to Spain abandoning her as a sex worker.
Explaining further she said, that since she couldn’t make
headway in the business, she yielded to her friend’s advice to come back to
Nigeria and recruit young girls for the business. So she came back to Nigeria
and headed for Edo State where she was told that she will find young girls
willing to travel out of the country to hustle as strumpets.
The 30-year-old met some locals in the area, and was introduced
to the young girls. According to her she paid N10, 000 each for the two young
ladies that were connected to her for the journey. She explained that, "I
met with one of the girl’s mother, I told her what her daughter was about to
embark on in Abidjan and she agreed to it, she also prayed for her and wished
her good luck".
Elo confirmed that her mother was elated about the journey that
she gave her some money and phone number to call when she got to Ivory Coast.
The suspect embarked on the journey from Benin, Edo State to
Lagos from where they were supposed to connect the Nigerian land border to
cross to the Republic of Benin but things began to take a twist when Francess
out of her curiosity began to question Martha about her welfare and coming back
from Abidjan for Christmas.
She said, "I asked Aunty Martha how much we will have to
pay her for the trip and she disclosed I and Elo will work for her till we are
able to pay a sum of 300,000 Cefa (N180,000) to gain our freedom in Abidjan,
then I told her I wanted to go back home from where we were and this led to an
argument which attracted other passengers on the bus.
“The argument made the other passengers in the bus become
suspicious and called the attention of the Police when we got to Berger Bus
Stop in Lagos. We were all arrested and taken to RRS Headquarters in Alausa,
Ikeja".
Confirming the arrest, the Lagos State Police Public Relations
Officer, ASP Olarinde Famous Cole stated that the suspect and the two young
girls have been transferred to SCID, Panti for further investigation.
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