Over 42 children have been sold into child labor over the last five years, according to 45-year-old child trafficker Alimot Haruna.
Alimot, however, was arrested on Wednesday by a team of policemen from the Ijora Badia Police Station of the Lagos Police Command.
However, it was noted and learned that the suspect, whose operational base is in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital, had been on the police wanted list for a similar crime.
All inclusive stated in her confessional statement that she works out of Molete village in Kwara.
She mentioned that and quoted, “I have sold over 42 children to different clients in the past. Lots of my partners and clients are based in Lagos,” she noted.
Quoting that “My target audience is children between the ages of 7 and 12. I bring the children to Lagos for child labor,” she said strongly.
Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, who confirmed the arrest, said three underage children have been rescued from the suspect.
It took three months of focused investigation, according to Hundeyin, for the suspect—the head of a child trafficking organization—to be apprehended.
Nonetheless, he stated that the command had been tracking the syndicate ever since it learned of its operations.
Detectives captured Alimot Haruna, the leader of syndicate one, on January 25, 2023, at approximately 5:45 p.m. in Molete village, Ilorin, Kwara state. Monitoring her movement was really a headache activity.
In the process, three underage children, two female and one male, whose names could not be ascertained, ages 12 and 7, with no fixed addresses, were rescued from her.
“During interrogation, the suspect confessed to the crime. A preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect has illegally brought over 52 children to Lagos for child labour without the consent of their parents.
The Kwara State Police Command had also declared the suspect wanted in relation to the disappearance of numerous minors, as was also known.
Meanwhile, all the disappearing children had been linked to her syndicate by the Anti-Humab Trafficking Unit of the Kwara State Police Command.
When contacted, the Kwara State Police Command confirmed that they had recovered some of the children.
However, about eleven others were missing. The suspect revealed where she kept the other children after being questioned.
“When the current custodians were contacted, they admitted that the children were in their custody. Efforts are on to rescue them while awaiting the arrival of the anti-trafficking unit of Kwara State Command to harmonize the case.
“Meanwhile efforts are on to rescue the remaining eight children.”
