Immigration rescues 131 children from traffickers in Oyo

The Nigerian Immigration Service ((NIS) in Oyo State, at the weekend, announced the rescue of 131 children, who have been victims of child trafficking in the last four months.

The state Comptroller, Mrs Victoria Isangedighi, disclosed this while receiving members of the state’s correspondents’ chapel in his office.She explained that 75 of the children were minors, allegedly lured by relatives for employment as domestic workers within and outside the country.

Out of those rescued, she said 56, from within and outside the country have been reunited with their families.According to her, the children were rescued through the intelligence and surveillance efforts of men of the command during various operations at different locations in the state.

She added that from February till date, 144 traffickers, including 75 Nigerians and 69 non-Nigerians have been arrested.Mrs Isangedighi disclosed that 12 of the cases that require further investigations and likely prosecution have been transferred to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons and other related Matters (NAPTIP).

The NIS boss said since assumption of office, the command has registered up to 7,300 foreigners from across the ECOWAS countries.She said those registered from various neighbouring West African countries, have signified interest in staying within the jurisdiction of the command.

The immigration boss however said the command has apprehended over 2,000 illegal immigrants with either fake or invalid documents.She lauded the efforts of the border corps for their gallantry in the arrest and repatriation of illegal immigrants, in the face of security challenges confronting the country.

While pledging the efforts of the command to more efficient and improved service-delivery, she appealed to prospective applicants not to patronise touts and fraudsters in dealing with the command.

She explained that a VIP waiting section would be created soon to accommodate dignitaries, senior citizens and the elderly.Earlier, Chairman Correspondents Chapel, Mr Olaoluwa Ajayi, said the visit was to seek clarification on issues pertaining to the operations of the command.