Pastor, others arrested for child trafficking

The Nigerian Immigration Service, Oyo State
Command, on Saturday paraded a pastor, Olufemi
Timothy, and four others accused of child
trafficking in Ibadan. The command also paraded
12 boys and four girls allegedly being used by the
accused persons in a slavery ring.
The Controller of the command, Innocent Akatu,
said the accused persons were apprehended in
various locations in Ibadan, adding that they
would be handed over to the National Agency for
the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons for legal
actions.
Our correspondent, who was at the command
when the culprits and their victims were handed
over to NAPTIP officials from Lagos, observed that
the children were not well fed and clothed. One of
the children, who identified herself as Glory, said
that she had been in Nigeria for three years
without being paid. She could not recognise
places where she had worked or whom she had
worked for. She also said her mother was told by
someone that she was coming to Nigeria to work
and earn good money.
Akatu said, “Human trafficking is a serious crime
that we are trying to end. We have very young
children being taken away from their parents
under the pretext that the traffickers would get
jobs for them or give them a better standard of
living. Many of them are brought into Nigeria from
Benin Republic, Togo and other neighbouring
countries. They are sold into slavery by those
who brought them into the country.”
He made reference to a boy of nine years old, who
was brought to Ibadan from Benue by his brother
and sold into slavery, saying, “He does not know
where he is. These children do not receive the
wages paid for them. The money goes to the
people who brought them. So it’s pure slavery. In
the past, when we arrested children like these, we
reconciled them with their parents. Even the
foreigners would be taken to their countries. But
we now felt that the method did not help to check
the problem. That is why we are handing them
over to NAPTIP for appropriate legal action,” Akatu
said.
While explaining how Timothy and 12 of the
victims were arrested in Iwo Road area of Ibadan,
the controller said the pastor was arrested with
another man who brought the children from Benin
Republic.
In an attempt to exonerate himself, Timothy said
he had only come from his farm to help a
labourer when he was apprehended.
He said, “I am a pastor and a farmer. There is a
labourer in my farm who called me from Ibadan.
He said he was stranded in the city. I ran down
quickly to help him out at Iwo Road. He had 12
children with him from Benin Republic but I never
knew he had such people in his company.
He was travelling to Ikire with them but my farm
is in Ajoda Farm Settlement. I cannot deny
knowing him but all I was trying to do was to
help him, not knowing that he was trafficking
children to Nigeria. I have foreigners in my farm
but I don’t know how they entered into Nigeria.
They were already here before I employed them.”