ENUGU POLICE RESCUE WOMAN TRAFFICKED TO MALI, ARREST SUSPECTED SYNDICATE MEMBER

The Enugu State Police Command has rescued a 25-year-old Nigerian woman from sexual exploitation in Mali and arrested a 69-year-old man alleged to be a key member of the trafficking ring responsible.

In a statement on Tuesday, Police Public Relations Officer SP Daniel Ndukwe said the arrest of Eze Boniface followed a petition by the victim’s parents to operatives at the Igbo-Eze North Police Division.

Preliminary investigations reveal that in May 2023, Boniface and accomplices still at large approached the woman’s family with a deceptive employment offer. They promised to secure her a job at a foreign textile company with a daily salary of $100.

Instead of legitimate employment, the victim was trafficked to Mali, where she was forced into prostitution. The syndicate is alleged to have profited approximately 500,000 CFA francs from her exploitation.

The Commissioner of Police, CP Mamman Bitrus Giwa, has ordered the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) to take over the case. He directed a full-scale investigation to dismantle the network, uncover its other activities, and arrest all connected individuals.

CP Giwa also issued a caution to the public, urging youths and parents to be vigilant against “get-rich-quick” job offers abroad, which he described as traps set by traffickers to enslave the vulnerable.