On Saturday, five women were rescued by Nigerian police forces from being taken to Libya by human traffickers. Two suspects were also arrested during the rescue operation while the police said they were on the trail of other members of the syndicate.
In a statement, the Public Relations Officer of the Niger State Police Command, Wasiu Abiodun, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), said the suspects, Osaruwumen Ewodaru and Olaoluwa Adebanjo, were intercepted on the Abuja-Kaduna road while they were on their way to Kano with the five women.
According to Abiodun, the rescued women, aged between 18 and 23 years, were from the Ondo, Edo, Delta and Ogun states.
He noted that the suspects would be transferred to the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) in Abuja for further investigation.
One of the two suspects, Osaruwumen, who admitted that it was not the first time he would be taking the route to Libya, said the woman he was going with had the permission of her parents to go with him.
Osaruwumen, who had forged a marriage certificate to claim that the victim was his wife, said he did so to avoid any form of suspicion.
He said that, “this is not my first time going to Libya. I only returned from there not long ago.”
Meanwhile, the other suspect, who also admitted acting as the transporter, said he did not know that the victims were being transported to Libya.
Notably, Libya is a transit and destination country for men and women from Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation. While most foreigners in Libya are economic migrants, in some cases large smuggling debts of $500–$2,000 and illegal status leave them vulnerable to various forms of coercion, resulting in cases of forced prostitution and forced labor.