The Bayelsa Command of Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) on Saturday said that it has arrested a girl child trafficking syndicate and freed two victims in Bayelsa.

Mr Godwin Nwachukwu, State Commandant of NSCDC in Bayelsa, said during a press conference at the Command’s headquarters in Yenagoa that the raid was sequel to a report by a civil society group.

He said that Bayelsa chapter of Association for Awareness Against Anti-Social Behaviour (AFAAAB) had informed the NSCDC to the activities of the suspected human traffic syndicate in Igbogene area of Yenagoa.

He said that a raid of the suspect’s hideout on May 15 led to the arrest of the principal suspect, Mrs Joy Victor, 27 and two female victims aged 16 and 17 who were trafficked to Ghana for prostitution.

“Further investigations revealed that the two female minors aged 16 and 17, victims of the human trafficking syndicate alleged that Victor had lured and trafficked them to Ghana, en route Lagos on April 17, 2018 for prostitution.

“They were trafficked in the guise of working as sales girls and housemaid by connecting them to a lady simply known as Rita in Kumasi, Ghana who operates a syndicate of child trafficking and prostitution rings.

“The victims said that while in Ghana they were subjected to sexual slavery and forced have sexual intercourse with more than 20 mean each and also asked to pay N700,000 each before they will be freed to operate on their own.

“After their exposure to prostitution, the two victims were assisted out of captivity by the Ghanaian Police and deported back to Nigeria.

“Our preliminary investigations show that the principal suspect Mrs Joy Victoria has been in the illicit child trafficking business for many years.

“We also suspect that she probably controls a cartel that specialises in trafficking teenage girls from Bayelsa to Ghana for prostitution,” Nwachukwu stated.

Nwachukwu said that the Bayelsa Command would transfer and hand over the cases to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) for prosecution once it concludes its investigations.

He appealed to parents to guide their children against vices and nurture them to become leaders of tomorrow and assured that the NSCDC was committed to fighting human trafficking and related offences in Bayelsa.

Update news