The Oyo State Command of the Nigeria
Immigration Service has said it arrested a man trying to smuggle six
girls to Burkina Faso for prostitution.
Comptroller of the command, Ekaete Isang, told SUNDAY PUNCH
that the man had travelled from Edo State with the girls to the border
town of Saki in Oyo State, where he was caught trying to take them
through an illegal route.
She said, “He was going to Burkina Faso
with the aim of involving the girls in illegal activities but before he
could cross the Nigerian border with them, our patrol team caught up
with him and he was arrested. We have reunited the girls with their
parents, while the man was handed over to the National Agency for the
Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons.”
Isang, however, complained about lack of
cooperation from the grass-roots leaders in border communities of the
state, noting that they aid people that come into the country illegally.
“Our major challenge in fighting human
traffickers and illegal immigrants is logistics because of the expansive
nature of the border line in the state. We have met with grass-roots
leaders in those communities but their response is not impressive. They
shield these (traffickers and illegal immigrants) people from arrest and
they don’t come up with information. We call on the state government to
support the command in our effort to maintain order at the borders,”
she added.
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