157 Children From Nigeria, Others Among 220 Rescued Human Trafficking Victims
Parents have been encouraged to be more vigilant and protective of their kids with the increasing spate of human trafficking of vulnerable children. This comes after 157 children from Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Benin, and Togo were among the 220 human trafficking victims rescued in an operation coordinated by INTERPOL.
Just after 157 children from Nigeria and other African countries were rescued by INTERPOL, it was gathered that a number of human trafficking victims were forced into prostitution. Ongoing investigation has led to the arrest of 47 people, as vehicles, cash, mobile phones and computers were also recovered.
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The INTERPOL chief mentioned the use of force and deception as effective tools employed by the traffickers, while also mentioning that the victims are held in bondage and put through many odd labours once in captivity, he said this in a statement released after the rescue.
The statement read in part;
Forced labour and exploitation:
Evidence in the region shows that victims of trafficking are recruited and trafficked using deception and coercion, and held in bondage in various labour intensive activities.
Many of the 157 rescued minors were moved around as ‘merchandise’ themselves across the border, and made to work in markets all day, peddling goods, fetching water, cooking, carrying heavy loads, or working as housemaids. Some were the victims of sexual exploitation.
The children were aged between 11 and 16, with the youngest rescued at the land border between Benin and Nigeria.
There, police found a boy who had been forced to carry clandestinely between the two countries heavy goods such as bags of rice weighing up to 40 kg.
All the victims originated from Benin, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria and Togo.
INTERPOL Secretary General, Jürgen Stock, said:
Human trafficking is a transnational crime from which the vulnerable, especially children, simply cannot walk away.”
The INTERPOL Chief added:
“This operation underlines the need for cross-border collaboration between law enforcement and all stakeholders to ensure that together we can enhance our prevention, protection and prosecution efforts,”
See another photo below: