Three-year-old among 14 victims to be given as domestic help

Juliana Francis

A three-old child is among 14 victims rescued by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking In Persons and Other Related Matter (NAPTIP).

The 14 children were moved from Plateau State, heading to Ekpoma, Edo State, where they would be given out as domestic helps to different households.

The suspects, Evelyn Jerry, (27), Stephen Rebecca (30) and Mr. Richard Patrick, (38) were intercepted by men of the Nigerian Army on official duty in Lokoja, Kogi State, and handed over to the Nigeria Immigration Services (NIS) Lokoja, before they were subsequently handed over to NAPTIP.

NAPTIP’s Press and Public Relations Unit, Nneka I. Aniagoh said: “The 14 victims, age between three and 13 years, and comprising of nine females and five males, were crammed into an eight-seater Seat Alhambra Sedan, with Plateau State registration number: JJN 964XB. They were struggling for space. They were taken from Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State, and on their way to Ekpoma, Edo State before they were intercepted and rescued.”

According to Aniagoh, the suspects, who are from the same town with the victims, confessed that they were taking the children to Ekpoma where they would be distributed to various households, for labour purposes. They claimed that the parents of the 14 children gave them consent to take the children and send them to various households for domestic labour.

The Director-General of NAPTIP, Dame Julie Okah-Donli, expressed her sincere appreciation to the officers of the Nigerian Army and the Nigeria Immigration Services for their contributory efforts in the interception, rescue and hand-over of the victims and suspects.

She said: “This is what the National referral mechanism, being put in place by NAPTIP and relevant organisations, aims to achieve. There needs to be a synergy in our collaboration towards the elimination of human trafficking from Nigeria.”

Okah-Donli used the opportunity to warn the general public that the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act, 2015, prohibits the employment of children below the age of 12 as domestic workers, and warned that those found culpable would be severely dealt with.

The NAPTIP DG also added that: “such acts fuel the incidences of child exploitative labour, and the Agency will not tolerate such abuse on our children, and the suspects will definitely be charged to court upon the completion of preliminary investigations.”