No fewer than six children between the ages of three and 10
have been rescued from a suspected human trafficking transit camp in the Ejigbo
area of Lagos State.
The owner of the camp, 25-year-old Comfort Anwana, was
arrested on Tuesday during a raid carried out by operatives of the state police
command and the Ministry of Youths and Social Services.
Her siblings, Gift, 28; and 23-year-old Blessing, who stayed
with her, were also apprehended. They all hail from the Oron Local Government
Area, Akwa Ibom State.
PUNCH learnt that the team stormed the one-room
apartment camp following a report from some residents of the area that Anwana
illegally took custody of the children.
The state Commissioner of Police, Edgal Imohimi, who led the
operation, noted that the camp was not an orphanage.
He said how Anwana came about the children was shrouded in
mystery, adding that the command would carry out an investigation to unravel
the actual activities of the centre.
Imohimi said, “We are concerned about the children’s
welfare. First of all, we must ascertain how they got into Comfort’s (Anwana’s)
custody. We must ascertain what happened to them while here. Were they abused,
sold into slavery or sold as domestic helps? This is not an orphanage or a day
care centre. We want to know where she got the children from because we are
concerned generally about child abuse.”
The CP, who said the arrest was the result of community
policing in Lagos State, directed policemen at the Gender Unit of the command
to work with officials of the Ministry of Youths and Social Development to
ensure that the children were taken to a home pending the outcome of the
investigation.
However, Anwana, said the children were her nephews and
nieces, adding that their fathers were dead.
She said she helped their mothers to look after them, adding
that the parents visited them occasionally.
She said, “Two of the children are my immediate elder
sister’s children, three are my eldest sister’s children whose father was a
policeman, while one of them is my child.
“My eldest sister’s place of work is far, so, she leaves
them in my care and checks on them occasionally. I work in a company as a
contract staff member and run shifts. I buy foodstuffs in bulk for the children
with my salary. I rented the apartment. I wanted to move with them to a
two-bedroomed apartment soon. Their fathers are dead, but they still have
mothers. They are all schooling here.”
A police officer said when the children were interviewed,
they could not mention their surnames, adding that some of them could not
mention their mothers’ names.
“The eldest of them, Lawrence, 10, didn’t know his father’s
name. He said his mother took him to the camp and that she comes to check on
him once in a while. He could not say what his mother does for a living.
“Another child, Michael, nine, said his mother was a food
vendor at Mile 12, and sometimes visited him. Eight-year-old Fabian could not
mention his parents’ names, while Felicia, 7, who said she had been in the
apartment for long, stated that she did not know where her mother lives.
“One of the children, a three-year-old boy, sustained an
injury, while another girl of the same age is ill. But Anwana said the ailing
girl had been treated by an auxiliary nurse. The CP, Imohimi, directed the
commander of Area ‘D’ Command, Mushin, ACP Akinbayo Olasoji, to carry out an
investigation into the prime suspect’s claims.”
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