ABUJA (Sundiata Post) – The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), said the five Benue girls that were trafficked to Cote d’Ivoire have been successfully brought back home.
This is just as the Benue state Government has appealed to the general public to desist, henceforth, from sharing the video of the girls on social media to prevent them from being stigmatized.
The Zonal Commander NAPTIP, Makurdi Zonal Office, Gloria Bai, disclosed this while speaking to newsmen on Thursday evening after a state Security Council meeting in Government House, Makurdi.
Bai who said the girls were returned safely stated that they are currently in rehabilitation.
Recall that a viral video had shown five Benue girls who were trafficked to Côte d’Ivoire for prostitution by a woman based in Jato Aka, Kwande Local Government Area of Benue State.
The girls, aged between 18 and 21, are all from Kwande LGA.
They said the woman sold them for N400,000 each.
Mrs Bai said the lady who trafficked the girls to in the guise of getting a job for them has been arrested and will soon be charged to court.
She commended the efforts of the Benue State government for ensuring the girls’ return back to the state, advising parents, guardians and job seekers to always be on the watch out in order to safeguard against issues of trafficking.
Meanwhile the Special Adviser to Governor Hyacinth Alia on Security and Internal Affairs, Chief Joseph Har PSP, has called to members of the public, especially those from Benue, to stop sharing videos of the girls on social media.
Har, who acknowledged that those who recorded and those sharing the videos might be doing so with intent to call on government attention to enable swift rescue of the girls, said by sharing the videos, they have however ended up causing more damage to the teenagers.
Har in a video message said “Those girls are victims of Trafficking and needs our collective protection and rehabilitation. So exposing their identify has stamped a stigma on them but we can do better to reduce the rate of the stigma.
“So I appeal to all we meaning Nigerians, especially the Benue people to restrain the sharing of the video on social media platforms to preserve the dignity of the girls.
“Let’s do it as unto our daughters, our siblings or relatives,” he added.
