Ondo State Police Command says it dismantled a transnational human trafficking network in the state, arresting several suspects and rescuing 14 victims from two separate illegal operations targeting foreigners and migrants.
Gatekeepers News reports that the breakthrough came after police received a detailed complaint from a Togolese man who had escaped captivity and sought help from officers in Ondo City.
According to the police, the victim told investigators he was deceived in Togo with a promise of a job in Canada by a man known to him as Tchodia Potolaw Fidel, who claimed to live in Canada and told him there was no Canadian Embassy in his home country.
After arriving in Nigeria, the victim said his belongings were taken from him and he was held against his will after paying 800,000 CFA francs.
Responding swiftly, police arrested six suspects linked to the trafficking operation, including Cleude Grao, Samuel Dsiwa, Michael Amissa, Olayiwola Kazeem, Akinubi Adebayo and Oluwole Vincent, the landlord of the property where part of the syndicate operated. Three victims were freed during that raid.
In a second case, officers in Akure North Local Government Area uncovered another group initially reported as a banditry case by a local resident at the Oba-Ile Divisional Headquarters.
After transferring the matter to the State Criminal Investigation Department for discreet investigation, police established that the suspects were not bandits but illegal immigrants from Chad held in a duplex apartment near OSOPADEC.
Intelligence revealed that the main suspect, Umaru Baba, allegedly acted as a representative of an online marketing company and lured, recruited and harboured 11 Chadian men and one woman under the false promise of commission-based work.
Police confirmed all 12 Chadian nationals were trafficked across borders through Cameroon and are now being treated as victims, while those arrested are in custody and making useful statements to investigators.
Efforts are also underway to trace the female landlord in Ibadan whose property was used for the syndicate’s activities, amid warnings that property owners must vet tenants to avoid facilitating criminal enterprises.
The Commissioner of Police said investigations are ongoing and that the rescued victims will be handed over to their embassies for diplomatic intervention and eventual repatriation, while police pursue other suspects still at large.
