Nigeria: Immigration Arrests Suspected Human Traffickers in Borno
Hamza Idris
11 February 2011
Maiduguri — Officials of the Nigeria Immigration Service in Borno State, yesterday paraded two suspects, who were arrested while attempting to cross the Nigerian border with three people, including a lady.
The state's Comptroller of Immigration, Mr. Babayo Gamawa said the suspects, Christopher Bob, 34 and his brother, Avnenabiku John, 30, were arrested at the Darajamal-Banki border in Borno State.
He also gave the names of the victims as Nwankwo Joshua Nnabuche, 28, Oyibo Nelson Goody, 29 and 26-year-old Stepahanie Stephen.
"The suspects were heading to Italy. They intended to travel by land through Cameroun, Chad, Libya and finally Italy. They do not have visas or any employment papers. Also, they do not have any reasonable source of income," he said.
Gamawa, who said that in 2009 the Borno State Immigration office arrested 155 people for trafficking offences, added, that "perhaps the perpetrators changed their routes and moved elsewhere. This is the first time we are recording this type of case this year, but our men are always on alert."
Bob, who is the prime suspect, said he is a marine engineer and that Stephanie is his girl friend.
"The other two guys are my brother's friends, we were caught while trying to cross the Nigerian border into Cameroun. But the fact is that I am not a trafficker. We were on our way to look for jobs," he said.
The Senior Intelligence Officer of NAPTIP in the state, Abubakar Tabra, said after investigation, the suspects would be charged to court while the victims would be rehabilitated.
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