The Nigeria Immigration Service on Friday handed over one suspected children trafficker and 21 victims it arrested in Kebbi State on their way to Mauritania.
The Comptroller of the NIS in the state, Rabi Bashir-Nuhu, made this known to newsmen in Birnin Kebbi on Friday.
Bashir-Nuhu saidL “The suspect was intercepted on September 2 at 1pm in the state as they were about leaving the country to Mauritania en route Kebbi.
“We are not saying people should not pursue religious knowledge out of the country, but it should be done in accordance with the rules and regulations of traveling out of the country.
“Their leader, Sulaiman Idris, is with them.
“And you can see them as they are very minor and underaged children.
“Nineteen are males while two are females.
“It is not right to travel out of the country with such children without proper documentation and certification by the relevant authorities.
“We intercepted him carrying fake ECOWAS documents and traveling certificates.”
Bashir-Nuhu assured that NIS would not allow any suspicious character or person profiting from human trafficking to pass its net in the state.
In his response, Idris said that he was going to Senegal for “Maulud” and then proceed his journey to Mauritania with the children in pursuance of Islamic knowledge.
He said: “We contacted someone in Bauchi State and got the documents and certificates for us.
“This is my second journey to Mauritania with set of children, but I don’t know the documents and certificates I am carrying are fake.
“I have contacts of the parents of all the children and the two females are my siblings.
“We are from Bauchi and we have students from Bauchi, Borno, Kano and Kaduna States going with me to Mauritania as they have completed the memorisation of the Qur’an and want to have knowledge of Arabic Language.”
Receiving the victims, Sokoto State Zonal Commander of National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking In Persons, Alhaji Abubakar Abdullahi, said the agency would undertake thorough investigation of the matter.
“We will ensure that we contact their parents and undertake diligent investigation,” he said.
Abdullahi, represented by Sadiq Atiku, commended the NIS for collaborating with the agency to eradicate human trafficking in the country.
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