The Taraba Command of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) on Saturday, paraded two suspects for their alleged involvement in child trafficking of 16 victims to Benin Edo state.
Commandant Adamu Salihu, Commandant of the command while parading the suspects in Jalingo mentioned their names as Daniel Madin and Federation Markus.
Salihu said that the suspects were apprehended on Thursday 18th January 2024 at the Jalingo Main Motor Park trying to convey their 16 victims to Benin.
He said that the victims, who were between the ages of 10 and 16 comprised of five (5) females and eleven(11) males brought from Zing and Bali Local Government areas of the state.
The commandant said that the preliminary investigations revealed that the suspects were part of a bigger syndicate that specialized in trafficking underage children with the promise of a brighter future in far away Edo State.
He further stated that the investigation revealed that that the kids were being plunged into all kinds of dehumanizing menial jobs and the proceeds of such jobs are confiscated from them by their handlers.
Salihu decried the rate at which parents abdicated their responsibility in raising their children to strangers who could end up harming them or exposing them to avoidable danger.
" How can one give birth to children and expect others to take responsibility for their feeding, clothing, education, and general well-being?
" Most of the children taken from the state are sold into child labour and prostitution while others are used as materials for baby factories, organ harvesting, and money rituals.
"My concern is that all the victims of this heinous crime are children who are of school age but forced to leave schools by their parents and relatives even now that the Taraba State government has made basic education free and compulsory for all children in the state.
"His Excellency the Governor of Taraba State Dr. Agbu Kefas has introduced free education in the state so that even the children of the less privileged can go to school but some parents rather than taking advantage of this good gesture are selling their children to unknown persons in the name of seeking greener pastures for their kids.
"This trend must stop immediately", he said.
The Commandant called on all stakeholders involved to take adequate measures to ensure that this menace was completely halted in the state.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the two suspects and their victims were handed over to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking In Persons (NAPTIP) for further investigation and prosecution.
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