VINCENT ADEKOYE, Benin

The container which was being conveyed on a Mercedes Benz lorry with registration number Lagos XH538EKY was sealed up and said to be heading to a neighbouring country through Shagamu, Ogun State.

Edo State has become an easy route for human trafficking in recent times. Available records showed that no fewer than 10 children especially girls are being smuggled out of the state on a daily basis while operators of the illegal business often come to the state to obtain the necessary papers for their nefarious acts.

Addressing newsmen in his office in Benin city yesterday, Edo State police commissioner, Mr. Bala Hassan said because of the circumstances surrounding the rescue of the victims, the command was poised to get to the root of the matter most importantly, according to him, since all the victims were from the same local government and were heading to the same destination.

He said, "on Sunday, July 15, 2007, at about 3.00pm, a Lagos-bound Mercedes Benz lorry loaded with 62 suspected victims of human trafficking from Ebi-Iwango Wanihem Village in Yala local government area of Cross River state was intercepted at the Ekiadolor point of Benin-Ore Expressway and were brought down for interrogation. The Mercedes Benz was meant for conveying goods and not human beings".

Mr. Hassan gave some of the names of the victims to include Agidigbo Victoria (15 years), Okpat Margaret (14 years), Uduhi Mary (15 years), John Regina (16 years) Akpala Angela (15yrs) and many others.

During interrogation, some of the victims who chorused the same answer said they were going to Shagamu at Ijebu Ode to look for jobs.

"I want to go and look for job at Shagamu. That is why I am going to Shagamu. I have not been there before but I want to go there," one of the victims who gave her name as Ogada Christiana said.

Hassan said the Command would hand over the victims to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Human trafficking (NAPTIP) for further action.