Voice Air Media, VAM News Update
A 23-year-old man, Isaac Okonu, from Akwa Ibom State, was apprehended on Thursday, February 29, 2024, by operatives of the Osun Amotekun Corps for trafficking five young boys to Ajebandele in Osun State without the consent of their parents or relatives.
The trafficking victims are David Udoh (23), Moses Sunday (10), David Okafor (11), Wisdom Bassey (15) and Hope Eto (14 ).
They are all from Akwa Ibom State.
The suspect was arrested by the men of Amotekun in Ifetedo, Ife South Local Government, around 6:45 p.m. after the driver of the vehicle that transported them from Akwa Ibom to Osun State noticed something strange in his vehicle.
The driver was said to have complained to the Amotekun in the area, and the Area Commander of Ife was said to have been informed about the incident.
The operatives, according to a report, swung into action immediately and arrested the culprit on the spot.
The suspect was said to have confessed to trafficking the young boys without the consent of their parents or relatives.
Isaac said he met the young boys in the motor park in Akwa Ibom State begging for money, and he told them if they could follow him to Lagos State, he could provide a job for them. He took them inside the transport vehicle without the consent of their parents or relatives and moved them down to Osun State, heading to Ajebandele, before luck ran against him.
The victims narrated that they were taken out of Akwa Ibom State without the consent of their parents or relatives and Isaac lied to them that he was taking them to Lagos State to provide jobs for them not knowing that he was taking them to Osun State to work on the farm.
The Corps Commander of Osun Amotekun Corps, Brig. Gen. Bashir Adewinmbi, while confirming the arrest to the newsmen in Osogbo,
asserted that the suspect was arrested for child trafficking of five young boys in Ifetedo Ife South LG of Osun State around 6:45 pm on Thursday 29th February 2024 after a complaint was lodged at Amotekun Ifetedo Command and Ife Area Command by the driver of the transport vehicle that transports them from Akwa Ibom to Osun State, the Amotekun operatives immediately swung into action and apprehended the suspect and the victims.
“Upon Investigation, he confessed to transporting the young boys to Osun State without the consent of their parents or relatives and he lied to the young boys that he was taking them to Lagos State but he planned to take them to Ajebandele in Osun State to work in the farm”. Adewinmbi said.
The suspect and the victims have been transferred to the National Agency For Prohibition On Trafficking In Person (NAPTIP) Headquarters, Osogbo for subsequent interrogation and prosecution.