Operatives of the Ogun State Police Command arrested a couple, Godday and Ebere Samuel on the 17th of October 2023 for human trafficking.
The suspects were arrested following a report lodged at Atan Ota Divisional Headquarters by one Adeniji Okikiolu, who reported that his 16 years old daughter, Maria Adeniji, suddenly disappeared from home on the 16th of October 2022. While a search party was organising to look for her, someone informed him that the missing girl had seen Ebere Samuel the previous day.
Following this information, Ebere Samuel was invited to the station, but she vehemently denied ever seeing the missing girl on or before that day.
Not satisfied with her plea for an alibi, she was subsequently detained at the station.
The Ogun State Police Public Relations Office (PPRO), a Superintendent of Police, Abimbola Oyeyemi, said: “But surprisingly when her husband was contacted, the husband confessed to having taken the missing Maria to somewhere in Lagos for onward transportation to Burkina Faso where she will be engaged as a maid to one of their associates. Preliminary investigation revealed that the couple has been into the business of human trafficking for some time now and that their accomplices are in Burkina Faso.”
The Commissioner of Police, Lanre Bankole, has ordered the immediate transfer of the suspects to the Anti-Human Trafficking and Child Labour unit of the State Criminal Investigation Departments for discreet investigation and diligent prosecution.
