Eighteen children, who were abducted and trafficked from Kwara State to Lagos State for child labor, have been rescued by the police in Lagos State.
The children, aged between eight and fourteen (8 and 14), are reportedly among the forty-two (42) children who were trafficked to Lagos by a syndicate.
The spokesperson for the Lagos State Police Command, Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the rescue of the children.
Hundeyin stated that six of the children were rescued a few days ago, while the police had earlier rescued twelve others.
The police spokesperson said, “On Tuesday, at about 12:00 p.m., a source, whose name was not mentioned but had been assisting the Ijora Badia Police Division to rescue the remaining children illegally trafficked to Lagos State, brought the children to the police as promised.”
He added that the Divisional Police Officer, CSP Ayoola Olawale, immediately contacted CSP Alice Leramo, the Officer in Charge of the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit of the Kwara Police Command.
Hundeyin said that the Kwara Police Command had taken over the case of the 12 children previously rescued from the suspect since January 29.
The police image maker continued, “She promised to dispatch the investigating team that came earlier to the Lagos Police Command to take over the children so as to enable the Kwara command to complete their investigation and reunite them with their parents.”
“Altogether, 18 trafficked underage children from Kwara have been rescued in Lagos and handed over to the anti-trafficking unit of the Kwara Command.”
The police spokesperson stated, “On January 25, a 45-year-old leader of the syndicate, Alimot Haruna of Molete Village, Ilorin, was arrested by detectives from the Ijora Badia Police Division in Lagos, who had monitored her movements.”
“In the process, three underage children, two females and one male, whose names could not be ascertained between ages 7 and 12 with no fixed address, were rescued from her.”
Hundeyin also continued, “During interrogation, the suspect confessed to the crime.”
According to the police spokesperson, “a preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect had illegally brought 42 children to Lagos State for child labour without the consent of their parents.”
“It was also revealed that the suspect had been declared wanted by the Kwara State Police Command in connection with many underage children that have disappeared, which have been linked to her syndicate,” Hundeyin added.
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