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Tag: traffickers

  • NDLEA arrests 140 drug traffickers in Bayelsa

    NDLEA arrests 140 drug traffickers in Bayelsa

    The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Bayelsa State Command, Tuseday, said it arrested 140 drug traffickers and confiscated 404.411 kilogrammes of different types of narcotics in the state.

    The agency’s Principal Staff Officer, Public Affairs, Mr. Ikenna Osakwe, said in a statement Tuesday that the agency recorded the success in 2015.

    Osakwe said out of the suspected drug traffickers, 124 were males while 16 were females.

    He said most of the arrested suspects were between the ages of 24 and 45 years.

    He said: “Pertaining drug exhibits, a total of 404.411kg of various types of drugs were recovered and seized.

    “Precisely, Cannabis Sativa accounted for 400.683kg, Cocaine 0.062kg, Heroin 0.033kg and psychotropic substances 3.633kg.

    “Furthermore, 16 litres of Combine, aka ‘goskorine’, ‘monkey tail’ or ‘mukite’, a mixture of Cannabis Sativa and alcohol was also seized.

    “It is worthy of note that N189, 370. 00 monetary exhibit was also seized in the year under review. The total value of the drugs seized was N2, 839,959.95.”

    Osakwe said 27 convictions were secured by the agency while other cases were still at various stages of prosecution.

    He added 96 drugs dependent persons were counselled in the Drug Demand Reduction Unit (DDRU) of the command.

    He said of the number, 27 persons had successfully completed the three-month mandatory process of counseling while 12 of them were still undergoing the process.

    Osakwe further said public enlightenment materials were also distributed during the command’s public enlightenment programmes to educate the people on the dangers of illicit drug trafficking and abuse and to teach intervention techniques for already drug dependent persons.

    He said: “It is the hope of the Command that in 2016, the level of cooperation and synergy between the Command and relevant stakeholders in the war against illicit drug trafficking and abuse will significantly increase.

    “In this wise, we wish to invite all of the relevant stakeholders, especially the state ministries of Women Affairs, Education, Youth and Sports Development among others, to be more active in partnership with the command.”
    Osakwe acknowledged and appreciated Governor Seriake Dickson and his cabinet for the immense contributions and value added towards the progress and functioning of the command.

    He urged Bayelsa residents to remain vigilant and report any incidences of illegal drug activities to the command to safeguard the health and well-being of all members of the society.

  • Cross River: Immigration arrests two suspected traffickers

    Cross River: Immigration arrests two suspected traffickers

    The Cross River Command of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) says it has arrested two suspected human traffickers as well as rescued 29 victims.

    State Comptroller of Immigration, Mrs. Funke Adeuyi, told reporters in Calabar Tuesday that the suspects and their victims were apprehended on January 10, 2016.

    Adeuyi said they were arrested by men of the NIS on border patrol at Itigidi in Abi local government area of the state.

    “On January 10, the immigration border patrol officers at Itigidi intercepted two buses containing 29 youth which we found out were victims of human traffickers.

    “On first line interrogation, we discover that a lot of them were going to an unknown destination.

    “We have profiled them and we have all cause to suspect that they were about to be trafficked to an unknown destination.”

    She said they would be handed over to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons.

    According to the State Comptroller, the two suspects had some monies with them, while some of the victims only had their mobile phones with them.

    “The victims told us during our first line investigation that they were being taken to a place where they would work and get some money.

    We reliably gathered from some of the victims that their parents were aware that the suspected traffickers were taking them away to do menial jobs that would earn them some money.

    “We would hand them over to NAPTIP for further investigation on the matter’’ she said.

    She advised parents to be careful in giving out their children or wards to people whom they do not know much about.

    Receiving the victims and suspected traffickers, Mr Victor Odudukudu, an official from NAPTIP, assured that the agency would continue with the investigation.

    “We are going to interview the victims and interrogate the suspects.

    “We are also going to trace their family members and find out if they actually gave out their children to the suspects,’’ he said.

    One of the suspects, Mr Denis Agbor, said that he was taking the victims to Akure, Ondo state, to work in his restaurant.

    According to Agbor, he took the victims from Yakurr local government area of the state.

    “When I was about going back to my base in Akure, these people met me and appealed that I take them along with me and engage them in menial jobs.

    “I agreed to their appeal and promised that I will be paying those that will work in my restaurant some token while I will engage others elsewhere.
    “I am not taking them for anything bad; I was only trying to help them earn a living and I even know some of their parents,’’ he explained.

  • Customs hands over suspected traffickers, $271, 135 cash to EFCC

    The Murtala Muhammed Internatonal Airport Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) yesterday handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) two persons arrested last week for allegedly attempting to traffic over $271,135.

    The cash was also handed over to EFCC for safe keeping and further investigation.

    Its Public Relations Officer (PRO), Thelma Williams, gave the suspects’ names as: Owolabi Tijani of Patovillki, a cleaning firm at the airport and Uwan Livinus.

    Williams said: “At about 11am on September 3, one Owolabi  Tijani a staff of Patovilki “Cleaning Firm” was apprehended by Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) officials who attempted to smuggle US$271,135 through “D” wing departure screening point.

    “The said Owolabi after interrogation confirmed to FAAN Officials names of people involved in the crime, including  Mrs Omo Seun (Iya Urobo) and Uwan Livinus.

    “Statements were therefore taken from the suspects and officers who witnessed the process.”

     

  • Two children rescued from suspected traffickers

    The Cross State Command of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) yesterday said two victims of child trafficking were rescued from Cameroon.

    Comptroller of Immigration Mrs Funke Adeuyi said the children were rescued from the country’s marine corridors to Nigeria with the help of a man simply identified as Mr Ikang.

    Mrs Adeuyi said the children were brought to Nigeria by Cameroonian police and received by the NIS at the Ikang control post in Bakassi Local Government Area.

    According to her, the children were abducted in July and taken to Cameroon for child labour by an unknown person.

    Mrs Adeuyi said: “The children claimed that they were both abducted in July and that both of them are vulnerable because they are orphans.”

  • Female child traffickers arrested in Calabar

    Female child traffickers arrested in Calabar

    Men of the Quick Intervention Squad (QIS) of the Emergency Response Centre in Calabar, Cross River State, yesterday arrested two women said to be part of a syndicate that specialises in child trafficking.

    The Commander of the QIS, comprising security outfits, Capt. Mohammed Tanko, said the women were arrested on the Etagbo Road, following a tip-off that they were transacting the sale of a two-year-old boy for N600, 000.

    He said when the suspects were arrested, they attempted to bribe with N500, 000.

    The suspects, a 30-year- old woman from Etinan in Akwa Ibom State and a 33- year-old woman from Akpabuyo in Cross River State, confessed to the crime.

    They said they were married and had children.

    The suspect from Akpabuyo, who served as an intermediary between the seller and the buyer, said she was a worker with the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital.

    She said she got the child from Akpabuyo.

    She said her share from the transaction was N20, 000.

    According to her, the buyer said she needed a child to adopt, but didn’t want to go through the proper process because she feared one day the child would be collected from them by the government.

    The suspect from Etinan, who was the buyer, said she had paid the money.

    The Security Adviser, Rekpene Bassey, said investigation was ongoing to bring their accomplices to book.

    He said the suspects would be handed over to the police.

    Bassey said the state would uphold a zero tolerance policy for crimes.

  • Jonathan proposes 10-year jail term for human traffickers

    Jonathan proposes 10-year jail term for human traffickers

    If a bill on prohibition of human trafficking scales legislative scrutiny at the National Assembly, traffickers risk a 10 year jail sentence.

    This is the highlight of a bill, through which President Goodluck Jonathan seeks an Act to repeal the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Law Enforcement and Administration Act 2003.

    Speaking at a joint public hearing of the Senate and the House of Representatives on the amendment of the bill yesterday, Senate President David Mark said there was no doubt that modern slavery still exist at homes and factories.

    Mark, who was represented by Senator Abu Ibrahim, said 10 years after the establishment of National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), giant strides have been recorded in the campaign against human trafficking.

    He condemned man’s inhumanity to man.

    Mark said the bill had been carefully crafted to respond to the challenges that NAPTIP had encountered in the last 10 years of its existence.

    He said the National Assembly was determined to give the enactment of the bill the urgency it deserves.

    Chairman, Senate Committee on Women Affairs Senator Hellen Esuene described human trafficking as hydra-headed and said that all hands should be on deck to fight the scourge.

    The lawmaker noted that human trafficking existed in different forms in parts of the world.

    Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Human Rights Beni Lar said human trafficking was a multi-faceted problem.

    Lar added that the problem of human trafficking was real and compelling.

    She said: “Nigeria is a source, transit and destination country for women and children subjected to forced labour and sex trafficking.

    “In frightening numbers, Nigerian women and girls are taken to other African countries, Europe, the Middle East and Asia where they are exploited for domestic servitude and forced prostitution.

    “The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) 2012 Global Report on Trafficking In Persons noted that Nigerian victims were dictated in 16 countries in Western and Central Europe, where the account for 11 per cent of all victims detected.

    “Nigerian boys are often trafficked for purposes of street vending, domestic service, mining, stone quarries, agriculture and begging.”

  • Court sentences two drug traffickers to 14 years

    TWO drug traffickers arrested by officers of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA) Abuja will spend the next 14 years in prison custody.

    Justice Chukwu Evoh of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja said 38-year-old Mbechi Susan and 36-year-old Obiora Okechukwu will spend seven years each in prison for unlawful importation of narcotics.

    Evoh, in his ruling, held the convicts have shown sufficient remorse and are expected to turn a new leaf after the sentence.

    Susan, with Nigerian international passport number A00288396, claimed she was carrying a three-month pregnancy when stopped for routine search on a trip from Sao-Paulo, Brazil.

    The indigene of Oduma Village in Enugu State reportedly excreted 51 pellets of cocaine weighing 900 grammes.

    Okechukwu, who also arrived from Brazil, was arrested for ingesting 91 pellets of cocaine weighing 1.6kg.