Edo State Migration Agency rescues two female minors being trafficked to Libya. Traffickers arrested, transport firm to face sanctions, says DG Lucky Agazumah
Benin City, September 11, 2025 — The Edo State Migration Agency has rescued two female minors, aged 13 and 14, who were being trafficked to Libya, the agency’s Director General, Lucky Agazumah, confirmed on Thursday.
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Agazumah disclosed that the girls, one of whom suffers from sickle cell disease, were intercepted in Zaria, Kaduna State, following a tip-off.
The traffickers had lured the minors from Edo State with promises of better life opportunities abroad — specifically, employment as maids in Italy.
“They left Edo on Sunday and returned on Wednesday night. We are determined to ensure that those involved face justice. There will be no hiding place for human traffickers in Edo State,” Agazumah said during a press briefing in Benin City.
The victims revealed that the traffickers instructed them not to inform their parents about the journey.
They were given hijabs, food items, and a phone number to call upon arrival in Kano, from where they would supposedly be taken to Libya and then to Italy.
One of the rescued girls, identified as Success, said:
“The boy told me his sister is in Italy and that she and her husband are old and have no children. He told me not to tell my mother and that I should call her only when I get abroad.”
The other victim, despite showing signs of illness, said she wanted to surprise her mother by going abroad and insisted she was well enough to travel.
“He told us to wear the hijab when we got to Kano. From there, a man would pick us up. But when we got to Zaria, the boy called and told us to return because his mother was in police custody,” she explained.
Shockingly, the trafficker’s mother, Comfort Etim, admitted to facilitating the trip and revealed her daughter had previously trafficked six other minors to Libya.
“My daughter interrogated the children and then took them to the motor park. I didn’t think anything was wrong,” Etim confessed.
The transport company that conveyed the unaccompanied minors is also under investigation and is expected to face sanctions.
Agazumah emphasized that human trafficking is a serious crime and reiterated the government’s commitment to eradicating it.
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“We are collaborating with security agencies. All co-conspirators, including the transport firm, will be dealt with according to the law,” he stated.
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