Excerpt: NAPTIP and DSS operatives have arrested a female truck driver and six others for trafficking children, selling them for N600,000 each.
Operatives of the National Agency Prohibition of Traficking in Persons (NAPTIP) and officials of the Department of State Service (DSS) have smashed a human trafficking syndicate headed by a female truck driver who is alleged to be a staff of one of the nation’s topmost cement company.
A statement on Tuesday by the press officer of NAPTIP, Vincent Adekoye read that a suspect, Hassana Jacob, 33 years old, an alternate female truck driver of a popular Cement Company was arrested along with the Cement Truck branded in the name and logo of the Company together with six other suspected members of the gang namely Aisha Suleiman, Murtala Tanimu, Shamsu Tanimu, Adamu Jacob, Abubakar Ahmed, and Ali Muhammed.
Adekoye said they were caught in Abuja by the operatives of the Department of State Service (DSS) while trying to sell off their latest victim, a 3-year-old girl that was stolen from Damaturu, Yobe State.
He said investigation revealed that Hassana Jacob commands a professional human trafficking syndicate that specializes in stealing children from age 1 and above, selling them to interested buyers at the rate of N600,000 each.
Adekoye, said investigation revealed that because Hassana because she is a Truck Driver with this popular Cement Company, had several successes stealing children at any of the terminals across the country, evading security checks on the roads, and delivery of stolen children to her gang members at any location without being noticed.
He said it is strongly suspected the syndicate has membership across the country with different assigned roles, with some members of the trafficking ring, hunting and luring victims to the truck terminal where they will be picked up by Hassana, others arrange interested buyers at any of the terminals across the country even before the arrival of the victims thereby making it fast for the gang leader to dispose of the stolen child and collect her money.
Speaking on the development, the Director General of NAPTIP, Binta Adamu Bello, while thanking the Director General of the DSS for his sustained support to the agency which culminated in the arrest of the smashing of the notorious human trafficking syndicate, expressed sadness over the situation describing it as a heinous crime against humanity.
The NAPTIP Director General who was represented by the Director, Research and Programme Development, Mr. Josiah Emerole, said: “I am deeply sad by the latest arrest. It is painful to note that human beings will organize a criminal gang, use a branded vehicle of a Company, move from one part of the Country to another, steal children belonging to other families, and sell them to interested buyers whose motives for the children are not known.
“They create everlasting sorrow and pain for those families and smile to the bank after selling those children. This is unimaginable and it is a condemnable act of wickedness. This is more painful when the arrowhead of this evil syndicate is a woman who knows the pain of motherhood.
“I sincerely appreciate the support of the Director General and Operatives of the DSS for the agency in the fight against human trafficking. I thank other sister law enforcement agencies also and I sue for more robust cooperation as we continue to scale our activities to ensure the protection of our children from human traffickers in Nigeria.”
Meanwhile, the 22-tired cement truck used to traffic the Child has been impounded by NAPTIP.
Michael Olugbode
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