Bolanle Adeoye, the woman who was mistaken for a wanted human trafficker, on Monday cried out that the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) is yet to remove her name from its watch list, weeks after she was cleared of any wrongdoing.
Gatekeepers News earlier reported that Adeoye, 56, was stopped on February 4, 2022, and prevented from travelling, over allegations that she trafficked some children years back. This, is despite the fact that the DSS and NAPTIP had detained and grilled her for the same accusation in 2018 and freed her then after discovering that it was a case of mistaken identity.
She was stopped again by the DSS at the airport earlier this month (February) for bearing the same name as a notorious child trafficker who had been declared wanted since 2010. She was prevented from boarding a United Arab Emirates Dubai-bound flight at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos. Ms. Adeoye was headed to Dubai to visit her daughter, who recently had a baby.
Even though Adeoye was once again cleared of any wrongdoing weeks ago, she still can not travel because her name is yet to be removed from the NAPTIP watch list, according to her daughter, Tolu who confirmed the development to Gatekeepers News on Monday.
“Despite that confirmation from NAPTIP officials, the agency is yet to remove my name from their watch list. They pleaded with me not to be angry, that the person who handled my case previously did not close it well. They blamed the delay in concluding my case to the unavailability of their director-general at the time to attend to my file.
“I was asked to go, that I would be contacted in a few days to come for my passport. But since February 4, I have been waiting for their call.
“My luggage containing perishable items is still at the DSS office. The COVID-19 test I did for N45,000, which lasts for 48, hours expired in the process. I have been spending a lot of money on hotel accommodation in Lagos thinking the matter would be resolved within days but that has not been the case.
“I am being punished for committing no offence, for simply bearing the name of a person they are looking for. I don’t know how long more my health can take this pressure and trauma they have put me through before something bad happens,” Adeoye had said in a chat with Gatekeepers News.
