The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Kwara State command has recued 20 minors allegedly used as child labourers in Ilorin, the state capital.
The command also paraded a farmer suspected to be using some of the minors for farming activities in Kaiama, Kaiama Local Government Area of the state.
The farmer, Muriana Saliu, claimed that he employed the services of three of the minors for a fee.
Parading the victims, the Comptroller, NIS in the state, Mrs. Abimbola Abiodun-Ojo said, “I have heard series of information from my officers working on the field, particularly Kaiama Local Government. We have had series of brawls with the farmers in Kaiama, particularly the Yoruba farmers. One of my officers was [so severely beaten up] that we had to rush him to the hospital. That was precisely February 2 this year.
“Sixteen of these children were found working on the farm and we arrested them but unfortunately they went away with the machines and discharged the minors.
“What I want to say is that we want these farmers to desist from employing underage; I mean minors, that is children between six and eighteen years. It is like they feel that is the only way they could get at us.
“On Saturday morning, officers went for another mop-up exercise and they were able to get 20 of these boys ranging between the ages of 12 and 16. It was like a rescue operation because they had already conditioned their minds [that they will be given motorbikes] in exchange for whatever they do. I have to tell you that 15 of these children are from Benin Republic, three Togolese, the remaining two are from Burkina-Faso. It is that bad. They bring them in through cajoling. One of them was learning how to repair automobiles before he was brought in from the Republic of Benin.
“Definitely, the farmer is not the trafficker; he is the end-user. They use the minors in their farms. From investigations, Muriana Saliu has three of these boys and they have been able to identify him. We hope to get other farmers that are using the boys to do farm work.
“What we noticed is that this is another dimension to child labour and abuse. The Kwara State Child Rights Act, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) Act of 2015 also frown at it and also the Immigration Act of 2015. I call these children minors because their intelligence is not yet developed. This farmer is not the only one guilty of the offence. I further interrogated him whether he has children or not and he said he has. But the children are in school.
“Very soon they would be handed over to NAPTIP. It is the agency that will properly prosecute them as it knows much on how to handle cases of children. We feel that NAPTIP is a multi-disciplinary agency. By the time NAPTIP officers come from Abuja to take them, they will know what punishment to be meted out to the end-users and traffickers. This is a new dimension of smuggling and using these young ones for hard labour.”
Saliu, who hails from Ilorin, said “I have only three out of these boys. They were brought to me by one Sambo. Sambo is from Benin Republic, who is engaged in farming activities in our area in Kaiama.”