Notorious Human Trafficker Arrested In Edo State

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has announced the arrest of a notorious human trafficker and rescued three victims from his residence in Benin.

Mr Josiah Emerole, the Head, Press and Public Relations, NAPTIP, said this on Sunday in a statement issued in Abuja.

Emerole disclosed that the 33-year old man, Monday Ugbo, was nabbed after several weeks of surveillance by the operatives of the agency.

He explained that the NAPTIP Benin Zonal Command arrested the suspected human trafficker at his residence located at number 72 Osayande St., Upper Sakponba Road, Benin City, Edo.

“Operatives of our agency have been on his trail for several weeks, following regular mention of his name in a number of human trafficking cases being handled by the Zonal Command. 

“Following intelligence reports that he was harboring some girls in his house preparatory to their being trafficked abroad, the operative swooped on him in the early hours of Friday. 

“He was caught in the process of receiving a registration fee of N50,000 he had demanded from a prospective victim,” the spokesman said.

According to him, the preliminary investigations revealed that the suspect is also preparing to take the three girls to a River that morning for oath taking before they could embark on the journey to Europe.

He said that Ugbo claimed to be a bricklayer and has been in the business of human trafficking for a long time operating with another woman now at large.

The spokesperson added that the suspect was in the agency’s custody giving useful statements.