Benue govt rescues 66 indigenes from traffickers

Benue State governor, Samuel Ortom, has expressed displeasure over the high rate of human trafficking across the country.

The governor said the trend had become a major national embarrassment. Ortom spoke while playing host to the Director-General (DG) of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Ms Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, in Makurdi.

The governor, who was represented by his deputy, Benson Abounu, regretted that the state had featured predominantly in the national embarrassment of trafficking in persons.

He pledged that the state government under him would continue to give support to the agency.

NAPTIP DG Suleiman-Ibrahim commended the Benue State government for enacting the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Law and efforts at checking the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the state.

She noted that since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in 2020, NAPTIP had rescued 66 indigenes of Benue State from traffickers.

According to her, most of the suspects were from Vandeikya, Ushongo Gboko, Konshisha Buruku, Gwer West and Guma Local Government Areas.

“These victims were mostly subjected to labour exploitation, domestic servitude and sexual exploitation,” she said.