Nigeria
Container kids:Rescued Victims Identified!
JUST as residents of Amukoko in Ajeromi Ifelodun Local Government Area of Lagos State had begun to heave sighs of relief at the relative calm in the area after the bloody clash
JUST as residents of Amukoko in Ajeromi Ifelodun Local Government Area of Lagos State had begun to heave sighs of relief at the relative calm in the area after the bloody clash between members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and students of Ganikin and Cardoso Colleges where a student was reportedly shot dead by the police in the process and two others sustained bullet wounds, another incident of more horrendous proportion was enveloping the serene neighbourhood.
It was the startling discovery of 64 people including 52 children crammed in a sealed container. The police in Lagos had intercepted the vehicle on Saturday, March 5 while the vehicle was on its way from Mokwa in NigerState.
Time was about 5 p.m and policemen on surveillance from Amukoko Police Station were on a routine patrol in the area. The cops had sighted a container truck with registration number XA 103 BRT with the driver and seven other women occupying the front seat. This made the police to become suspicious. The policemen, numbering about six, flagged the truck to a stop. The driver, not wanting his ‘cargo’ to be unmasked, attempted to compromise the cops by offering them an unspecified amount of money running into four figures.
The driver’s noticeable fright and the unsolicited gift of such a huge sum further aroused the curiosity of the policemen who not only declined the monetary inducement but insisted that the content in the sealed container must be revealed.
First, the driver and the other front seat occupants tried to play a fast one by telling the surveillance team that the content was "frozen fish." With two policemen at a distance and their fingers hanging loosely on the triggers in case of a sudden attack, the others would not shift ground until the container was opened.
At last, the driver, with no other option, obliged. And behold, there were 65 frail-looking persons inside the dark container. The 65 persons crammed in the container comprised eight suspects and fifty eight victims including female children who were under 18 years (eleven were babies of between one and four years), among others. Immediately, the police swung into action by taking everyone to the station. The news spread like wild fire as residents of the area thronged to the station to have a glimpse of both the woman in the centre of it all and the rescued children in what was perceived to be a case of human trafficking.
Enraged Nigerians would not be calmed down. As they surged forward in fury, they demanded that the suspected trafficker be released to them for lynching. "Release her to us, let’s teach her a lesson," they shouted angrily and persistently.
Sensing that danger of great dimension was apparently looming, the police locked its gate while the woman, Alhaja Fatima Baba and the girls were taken inside. After spending two nights at the Amukoko Police Station, they were all transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti-Yaba in LagosState.
The children and the suspects had since been moved again to the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) annex in Alagbon, Lagos for further investigations on the orders of the acting Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Sunday Ehindero.
But what manner of woman is Alhaja Baba? What was she doing with 52 children in a sealed container? How does she convince anybody that they were not destined for child trafficking before their rescue by the police?
Saturday Vanguard got the 45-year-old woman in the eye of a raging storm to speak just before she was moved to Panti with others. She insisted that the children were not forced from their parents’ grips but were freely given to her. She spoke in Yoruba.
"It is only God that will vindicate me because I don’t understand why I should be arrested and paraded as if I am a criminal. I even learnt that the whole thing is in the newspapers and television. Look at the scandal my kindness has caused me.
"I have been living in this area for close to twenty years now. I have never been to a police station in my life. Everybody now sees me as ritualist or a trafficker even without giving me a chance to say a word. "What actually happened was that I would usually go to the village (Mokwa) to get these children with the consent of their parents. Then, I would enrol them in schools and after school hours, they go and hawk groundnut. I am not using them for ritual or any evil .
"Some of them are my children and the kids of some of the women found in the truck. We only boarded the truck because the vehicle we took from Niger broke down midway in our journey and we were left stranded for a very long time until the truck came along and decided to take us to our destination for eight thousand, five hundred naira.
"After much bargain, he reduced the amount.
I never knew the truck driver before now. We had passed so many police posts unhindered only to be accosted when we were almost at our destination by some policemen on patrol who were bent on knowing what was in the truck.
"We opened it because I felt there was nothing to hide and nothing to be afraid of. But to my utmost surprise, on getting to the station, I was labeled a criminal and a ritualist and right now they said they are taking us to Panti.
"What I am still insisting on is that the police should go to the parents of the children in Niger and find out if they were kidnapped or voluntarily given to me. I believe it’s unfair to crucify me when nobody has given me a chance to tell my own story or when the police authorities have not concluded their investigations."
Tunde Lawal, a driver of the seized container and a staff of a fishing company also claimed to have volunteered to help Alhaja Fatima out of pity for the children who he said looked so tired.
"When they flagged my vehicle down, I stopped because of the number of children. They all looked so tired. I felt some pity when they told me they had spent much time there. Initially I did not want to carry them because it is against the company’s policy to carry people inside the container which is meant only for frozen food.
"I never anticipated it was going to turn out this way. If I had known it would come to this, I would have left them the way I met them. I only felt pity for the children and now, I’m in this kind of trouble. I know many people won’t believe me when I say that I’m innocent, but I know that God will prove me right at last."
It was so amazing that the alleged trafficker claimed ignorance of the offence of human trafficking in spite of the vigorous campaigns by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) especially the Women in Trafficking and Child Labour Eradication Foundation(WOTCLEF) initiated by Mrs. Titi Abubakar, wife of Vice President Atiku Abubakar that works in conjunction with the trafficking section of the FCID in Alagbon.
According to section 34 (1) of the 1999 constitution, every individual is entitled to respect for the dignity of his person:
(a ) No person shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment.
(b) No person shall be on slavery or servitude; and
(c) No person shall be required to perform forced or compulsory labour.
Police beam searchlight on Mokwa At the FCID, Thursday, the
police authorities were working round the clock to unravel the mystery behind the unholy discovery of March 5. Both the suspects and the rescued children were being interviewed one after the other by officers of the trafficking section.
According to one of the officers, "our investigation is going to be exhaustive because we don’t want to leave any stone unturned in our desire to get to the root of this very matter. So, we sue for patience on the part of the Nigerian public. But I can also assure you that we are also aware of the sensitive nature of this matter and the interest that it’s generating. Therefore, we will equally handle it with despatch."
The police, according to our source, will beam their searchlight on Mokwa in NigerState from where the victims hailed. "The first thing to do is to interview both the suspects and the victims, and that’s what we’re doing now. The next move will be to head to Mokwa and find out the veracity of their claims. But don’t let us tell you how we intend to do that."
Already, there is deep apprehension in Mokwa, the ancient town bordering Niger and Kwara states. Some families are now jittery that they would soon be in the police net if fingered in any way for having anything to do with the container kids.
Earlier, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ademola Adebayo, a deputy superintendent of police had given an indication that though a case of child trafficking had been preferred against Fatima Baba, detectives will soon be heading to Mokwa for possible identification of the relations or families of the victims.
Our police source corroborated this stand. "Some of the victims are old enough to know the names of their parents and their house addresses. So, the natural thing to do is to reconcile what we will get at the end of the day with what we’ve been told. Did the parents give their children out? If they did, were they told what they were coming to do? Where would they have been kept in Lagos? These are some of the questions that would be answered."
But Nigerians are asking the police and the government to ensure that this matter is not swept under the carpet. According to Mrs. Bridget Essien, a woman activist, "it is bad enough that unemployment is driving parents and other Nigerians to unholy behaviours. However, it is up to the authorities to expose the evil acts. Now, where did the vehicle which Alhaja Fatima and the children boarded spoil? What brand was it?"
At the FCID, Alagbon, Thursday, the familiarity between Fatima Baba and kids rescued from the refrigerated truck was evident. She would speak their local dialect to each person and she would nod agreeably. The police insist that no matter the interaction between them, "we would get what we want from each person."