Police nab human trafficker in Nigeria
Abuja - Nigerian police on Thursday arrested at least one woman in a human trafficking ring that involved 121 victims from eight nearby countries.
The lead suspect, Esther Eze, was identified by police as the team leader. Eze told journalists at a news conference called by police that she worked for a transport company in Cotonou, Benin.
Julie Iroha, police commissioner in Abakaliki, the capital of Ebonyi state in south-east Nigeria, also presented to the press the 121 "willing" victims, including 11 women. All were between 16 and 45 years old.
The victims included 92 people from Mali, 14 from Senegal, seven from Guinea, three from Niger, two from Mauritania, and one each from Sierra Leone, Guinea Bissau, and Cameroon.
The victims included 92 people from Mali
Iroha said the leaders of the ring were arrested in the early hours of Thursday after a tip-off.
Eze told interrogators that she assembled the victims in Lagos, Nigeria's business citadel, from where they embarked on a journey to Cameroon through the Abakaliki-Ikom Route in Nigeria, Iroha said.
She explained that her duty was to show the group the way to Cameroon from Nigeria.
"I have been showing several groups the way through this route before now at no (personal gain)," she said.
One of the trafficked persons from Niger, Alabi Kabiru, said each person had paid Esther for the trip to Cameroon, where they were to work in farming.
Eze and her victims were to be taken to Abuja, where she would be arraigned. - Sapa-dpa
