Metro

Edo Agency Intercepts 14-yr-old Sickle Cell Sufferer, Others, Trafficked To Libya, Mali

Published

3 months ago

September 11, 2025

Edo State Migration Agency has intercepted a 14-year-old sickle cell sufferer and a 13-year-old girl being trafficked to Libya by a human trafficking syndicate.

Presenting the minors (name withheld) before newsmen on Thursday in Benin, Director-General of the agency, Lucky Agazuma, said the agency heard about the case, swung into action and was able to intercept them in Zaria, Kaduna State.

He said, “The question is, how would a sickle cell girl survive in the desert. The good news is that when we brought them back, they were smart enough to come back with some evidence of receipts of the transport companies they are using in this state to traffic minors out. Based on this evidence, we have already reached out to many transport companies that they shouldn’t involve themselves in this devilish act.”

Agazuma, who said the agency will not fold its arm and watch Edo children trafficked out of the country at a time the state government is spending billions of naira to make sure Edo children have access to quality education, noted that all suspects arrested in connection with the case will be prosecuted in line with the appropriate laws.

The DG, while urging members of the public to report any suspicious case of human traffic to the agency, warned: “If you’re a trafficker, be warned that we are very close to you. It is better if you move away from Edo State.”

The 14-year-old sickle cell sufferer narrated that a boy in the area came to inform her that he wanted to take her and her friend to Libya, warning that they shouldn’t inform their parents until they get to Libya, and when they get there they will call their parents phone as a surprise.

She added that he thereafter took two of them to a lady who took their photo graph and sent via phone to another person who complained of her health, but the lady with them assured the person at the other end that she was healthy.

According to the minor, they were thereafter asked to go and take their bath, after which they went back to the lady who took them to the motor park, bought them food and hijab, and handed them over to a vehicle en route to Kano with a phone number of who to contact.

She said they were on their way when calls from both the boy and lady came in, asking them to come back because their mother had been arrested, and that they will not release the lady’s mother until they return home.

The minor added that when they eventually got to Zaira, they called the contact person who asked them to come, but the lady at the other end called and asked them to return home, adding that the lady thereafter transferred money to a driver in the park who brought them back home.

One of the suspects who identified herself as Comfort Etim, 49, who said she was innocent of the children being trafficked, however, said that the boy actually brought the girls to her daughter with the claim that they were his sisters and that he wanted them to be taken abroad.

Mrs. Etim, who claimed she was never aware that the children were to be trafficked abroad, confessed that her daughter (who is at large) had so far trafficked six minors abroad.

In a related development, the agency also paraded a 18-year-old girl who was deceived of a sale girl job in Lagos but unfortunately trafficked to Mali.

Narrating her ordeal, Joseph Faith said she was promised a sales girl job in Lagos but when they got to Lagos the woman who took her from Afuze, Edo State, proceeded to Cotonou and from there to Mali.

She said the woman in Cotonou handed her over to a Mali going to Mali and returned back to Nigeria, adding that what she said in Mali was different from what she was told she was going to be doing.

“I arrived at Mali around 10PM, they then took me to a woman. When we got there, what she told me I was going to be doing was quite different from what I saw. What the woman uses girls in her place for was prostitution, so I told the woman that I can’t do it, and that I want to go back home. The woman told me that before I can go back home, the woman in Nigeria needs to bring another person to replace me.

“I was there for three weeks. I was starving. That was when I ran to the police station to report, and the police put me in a vehicle back in Nigeria.”

Asked how she survived for the three weeks she spent in Mali, she said: “It was not easy for me. Since I refused to do it (prostitution) she refused to feed me. So, I used to come out at night, and people gave me money. This is how I survived.”

Metro

Alleged Organ Harvesting: Bereaved Families Rush To Check Corpses

Published

6 hours ago

December 18, 2025

Editor

Families who deposited their deceased relations at the Aigbe Mortuary, Akugbe Street, off Upper Sakponba Road, Benin City, have since Monday been besieging the facility to ascertain the condition of their loved ones.

This followed the discovery of an alleged case of organ harvesting at the mortuary.

A mortuary attendant was arrested by operatives of the Edo State Police Command as a result of the incident.

A visit to the hospital, which operates the mortuary and serves the densely populated Upper Sakponba area, revealed that some family members were present to check the condition of the corpses they deposited, while others made frantic efforts to transfer their deceased relatives to other mortuaries.

Osariemen Desmond who happens to be one of the persons who were at mortuary said his late mother’s corpse was deposited at the mortuary, adding that he was there to ensure nothing had happened to her remains, as the family plans to bury her next year.

“I am here because of the story we heard about organ harvesting last Friday. I just want to be sure that my mother’s corpse is safe. Many people have been coming since Monday to transfer the corpses of their deceased family members to other mortuaries, while others just came to be sure that nothing has happened to the corpses they deposited. But for me, I am here to be sure that my mum’s corpse is intact,” he said.

However, a member of staff of the hospital, who declined to have his name in print, said the mortuary had never been involved in organ harvesting.

He explained that the deceased whose corpse was allegedly tampered with had died as a result of poisoning, which may have affected his internal organs.

“There is nothing like organ harvesting here. The man in question died from poisoning, and that may have affected his internal organs,” he said.

However, the Edo State Police Command, in a statement released by its Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Eno Ikoedem, said the Command had launched an investigation into the matter and would ensure that anyone found guilty faces the full weight of the law.

She said: “The Edo State Police Command has launched an intensive and far-reaching investigation into a disturbing allegation of unlawful tampering with a human corpse and theft of human parts at Akugbe Mortuary, located along Upper Sakponba Road, Benin City—an incident that sparked public outrage and nearly culminated in mob violence.

“On December 12, 2025, the Command received an urgent distress call indicating that a mortuary attendant was on the verge of being lynched by an irate crowd over allegations of organ harvesting. Acting with swift precision, the Divisional Police Officer, Ugbekun Division, immediately mobilised operatives to the scene and successfully rescued the suspect, thereby averting a breakdown of law and order.

“Preliminary investigations revealed that one Marvelous Odeh and others had visited the mortuary to claim the corpse of the late Uyi Enogieru for burial. However, upon completion of the required formalities, it was discovered that the corpse had been unlawfully interfered with and that some body parts were missing, prompting a report to the Police.

“The suspect has since been taken into custody and, on the directive of the Commissioner of Police, Edo State Command, CP Monday Agbonika, fdc, the case has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) for a thorough, professional, and discreet investigation to unravel the circumstances surrounding the incident.”

Metro

Suspected Kidnappers Abduct 18 Passengers On Benin-Akure Road

Published

3 days ago

December 15, 2025

Editor

Kidnappers have abducted 18 passengers along the Benin-Akure highway, near Obarenren village, Ovia North East Local Government Area of Edo State.

The kidnappers were said to have fired sporadically before taking their victims into the bush.

Edo State Police Command’s Public Relations Officer, Eno Ikoedem, confirmed the incident in Benin on Monday.

Ikoedem, while stating that a joint security operation had launched a manhunt for the abductors, added that a “massive bush combing led to the rescue of 11 victims.”

The PPRO, who said efforts were on to rescue other victims, noted: “The incident happened last Saturday. The passengers were in a 18-seater Big Joe bus. We have been combing the bush in collaboration with the Nigerian Army.

“No Arrest has been made yet.”

Metro

NDLEA Seizes 457kg of Cannabis, Arrests Suspected Trafficker In Edo

Published

3 days ago

December 15, 2025

Editor

Photo: file copy

Operatives the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Edo State Command, have arrested a 44-year-old suspected drug trafficker, Ohiomah Igbafe, at Uroe community in Owan East Local Government Area of Edo State.

The command also seized 457 kilograms of skunk cannabis concealed at the suspect’s hideout
in the operation that took place on December 9, 2025,

The State Commander of the anti-narcotic agency, Mitchell Ofoyeju, who disclosed this in a press statement said: “The suspect was found in possession of 15 bags of cannabis sativa weighing a total of 457 kilograms, in addition to a separate sack containing four kilograms of cannabis seeds.”

He described the arrest as a significant milestone in the agency’s ongoing campaign against drug trafficking in the state.

He said: “The operation reflects our undying commitment to the eradication of drug trafficking within Edo State. The quantity of illegal drugs seized in this raid represents a serious threat to public health and safety. This level of success encourages us to continue to confront drug cartels relentlessly.”

He added that the agency would not relent in its efforts to dismantle criminal drug networks, warning that offenders would be pursued without mercy.

“We want to send a clear message that drug traffickers and their collaborators have no safe harbour in Edo State.”