Two female minors, aged 13 and 14, including one living with sickle cell disease, have been rescued in Edo State while being trafficked en route to Libya.
The girls had reached Zaria, Kaduna State, when their trafficker instructed them to return after his mother, Mrs. Comfort Etim, was taken into police custody. They had left Edo on Sunday but were safely brought back on Wednesday night.
At the Edo State Migration Agency, the victims revealed that they were promised jobs as domestic workers for an elderly couple in Italy, but were cautioned not to inform their parents.
They said their sponsor placed them in a bus at Aduwawa Motor Park, Benin City, with instructions to call a contact upon arrival in Kano.
One of the victims, identified as Success, recounted how the trafficker gave them food items and disguises, adding that she was relieved to have returned home.
The second girl, who is managing sickle cell, said she initially hoped to surprise her mother by travelling abroad.
Director General of the Migration Agency, Lucky Agazumah, said the transport firm responsible for transporting unaccompanied minors would be sanctioned.
Agazumah said other co-conspirators have been arrested.
He vowed to ensure the traffickers face justice.
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