Lagos Government Apprehends Suspected Female Human Trafficker

A suspected human trafficker was apprehended by the Lagos State Government on Friday night at Abule-Egba area of the state. The suspect identified herself as Ganiat Ajijola, 35.

An official of the state Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Mr Femi Malik, who made this known to our correspondent today in Lagos, said the ministry acted on a tip off.

Malik said that the ministry had solicited the assistance of the Police Rapid Response Squad at the state Secretariat in Alausa, to arrest the suspect.

He alleged that the suspect was in the process of trafficking four young girls to Libya, when she was arrested with the victims.

The official said that the suspect confessed that her madam had taken her to Libya in 2010 to work in her shop as a hairdresser.

Ajijola, who claimed to have returned from Libya a month ago, said she contacted the girls and had made arrangement to take them to Abeokuta to obtain international passports.

Malik told our correspondent that the mother of one of the victims fainted when she learnt of the arrest of her daughter and had been rushed to the hospital.

Also, the father of one of the victims, who identified himself as Apostle Ogundeko, said a man he prayed for in his church offered to assist his 16 year-old daughter, Olabisi to travel abroad.

Ogundeko claimed that he was told his daughter, who is a tailor, would be taken to Germany where she would work and go to school.

He said he was shocked to learn that his daughter was being taken to Libya after he had paid N15,000 for her medical check-up and the international passport.

The suspect and the victims, as well as other arrested in connection with the matter had been handed over to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) for further investigation. [LASG/NAN]