The Benue state police command said it intercepted an 18 seater bus in Makurdi, the state capital with conveying twenty three (23) occupants, mostly children suspected to be victims of human trafficking . The state commissioner of police, Fatai Owoseni who disclosed this while parading the suspected abductors and victims at the command headquarters in Makurdi said , the victims were being trafficked from various local government across the state. According to the CP, the victims whose ages range from 12 to 45 were said to be coming from Buruku and were intercepted in Makurdi by the police patrol team, adding that some of the victims who were able to identity their places will soon be re united with their families through the chairmen and traditional rulers of their various local governments. In an interview with the alleged principal trafficker, Prince Masenengen Tar, he told our correspondent that he was not a trafficker. According to him, two ladies out of the 23 are going to work in his restaurant in Kaiama,while the others are going there to stay with their relations and help them in farm work. He said, “ I am a farmer, in Kaiama local government area of Kwara state, I am not a trafficker, everybody here is going with me with the consent of their relations, the little boys among us are going there to stay with their relations while those two ladies are going to work in my restaurant in Kaiama and we negotiate that I will be paying each of them N10,000 per month In another development, 30 suspects were also paraded by the command for various crime which include arm robbery and cultism where 13 weapons were recovered from them. Owoseni while taking journalists around the paraded suspects said among the suspects, a 65 -year- old cleaner with the Nigerian Air force who specialised in the sell of army and police uniform to armed robbers for a return after a successful operation, Peter Agbande was also nabbed. Speaking with our correspondent, Mr Angbande said as a cleaner with the Air force, they do give him most of their thorn uniform to throw away and instead, he keeps some that are better for his personal use. “ I did not know that this boy was going for arm robbery, he came and beg me to give him this uniform, that he likes them that was why I gave it to him and now I am caught, frankly speaking I am innocent of these allegations “ But the 18 – year -old JSS 2 dropp out who was caught in army uniform said, he use to get the uniform from Angbande and bring returns after every successful operation. He added that he ran out of luck during his second time of his operation as an Hear him, “ I dropped out of school in JSS 2. I am from Mbaivur, Ikpayoyongo in Gwer local government area of Benue state. My father is a farmer, this is my second time of going for operation, I was lured into armed robbery by one of my friends called Hangeior,” he stated.

http://www.akelicious.net/2018/04/benue-police-nab-human-traffickers.html

Wow!!!