Katsina human trafficker lures victims with tales of greener pastures

Muntari Hamidu has been on the radar of both the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) and its Nigerien counterpart for a while. His name keeps echoing each time victims of human trafficking are apprehended by security agents.But the elusive Hamidu, aged 30, believed to be a kingpin in the human trafficking business, operates from his safe […]

Muntari Hamidu has been on the radar of both the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) and its Nigerien counterpart for a while. His name keeps echoing each time victims of human trafficking are apprehended by security agents.
But the elusive Hamidu, aged 30, believed to be a kingpin in the human trafficking business, operates from his safe base at Kongolam, a border town in Mai’adua local government area of Katsina State. 
Last week, Hamidu was finally apprehended in Maimujiya town in Niger Republic with five victims, while attempting to cross with his ‘booty’ over to Libya for their eventual movement to Europe.
However, luck ran out on him when intelligence reports exposed him. He was spotted whisking the victims away in a vehicle and chased by security agents forced him to a stop. But this was after he scared them with several gunshots. It was gathered that the Nigerien patrol team had to use tyre-beakers to force him to a stop.
 It was further revealed that the NIS special elite border patrol team, which had earlier alerted their Nigerien counterparts of the suspect’s movement, arrested Hamidu and the victims, where they were handed over to Nigerian security agents to face the law.  
Parading the kingpin and the victims, Katsina State comptroller of NIS, Mr. Emmanuel Ogbmuo, said Hamidu has been on the radar of the command for quite a long time.
He added that Hamidu’s arrest was as a result of painstaking intelligence and monitoring report between its border patrol and the Nigerien counterpart who were already aware of his nefarious activities.
 Speaking with Weekly Trust, Hamidu named an alleged contact as one Alhaji Umar a Maimujiya. He stated that residents usually contact him whenever the need arises especially, with regards to moving people and commodities in and out of the two countries.
While denying that he runs such operations single-handedly, Hamidu said the foiled trip was his second operation, noting that the first was last month, after which he was mandated to write an undertaking not to continue to indulge in such movements.
However, the head of the NIS special elite unit border patrol, Mr. A. Ali, described the suspect as a caged-man, who was now merely trying to float.
He said Hamidu’s activities have been monitored for a long time by the security agents of both countries to break the chain of the human trafficking.  
Narrating his ordeal, one of the victims, Esosa Atiba, said they were contacted through an agent, whom he named as Samaila, who arranged their movement from Edo State, through Abuja to Katsina State.
“The said Samaila has been with us talking through the phone and asked us to come to Abuja where he provided a Sienna wagon bus for our transport to Katsina,” he said.
“Upon our arrival, we called him and he told us that a car will soon be with us, which will cross us over the border. As we waited, this Hamidu appeared in a green Golf wagon car and asked us to quickly enter as the area is not safe enough. Muntari asked us if we have any passports on us and we told him we were not asked to do that, so he said no problem we have to beat border patrol then,” Atiba added.  
“It was when we were navigating through the border that our car was shot at after stepping on tyre breakers and we were rushed at and apprehended,’ the victim said. 
Atiba told Weekly Trust that he rides a commercial motorcycle popularly called Okada, in Edo State: “I use it to take care of my 58-year mother and siblings. Upon its ban by the government I sold the motorcycle almost N50,000 and used the money to move in search of greener pastures to Libya. But luck has run out on us, as we were apprehended at Maimujiya.”  
Prodded further on whether they paid any advanced money, Atiba said no kobo was demanded from them yet, adding that the contact just kept encouraging them to come over to Libya after which the terms of payment will be discussed.
 But Atiba is just one of the several other unsuspecting victims that fell into the trap of the human trafficking cabal. It was learnt that more than 39 people have so far been rescued from the cabal of human trafficking by the NIS in Katsina State.
Investigations indicate that Katsina State has several legal and illegal routes to neighbouring Niger, which service these trafficking activities.  It is a chain that normally starts with phone calls, where unsuspecting victims are lured into moving to Europe for greener pastures.  
The unsuspecting victims, according to investigations, easily fall prey, especially as no monetary commitment is demanded from them initially.  The kingpins allegedly secure them passage to Libya, enroute Niger for the eventual movement to Spain or Malta in Europe. But some of the victims also end their journey in Libya, particularly those who dread crossing the sea to Europe. 
The victims are then subjected to slavery and other untold inhuman conditions so as to recoup the sponsors’ investment in moving them to Europe or Libya, findings suggest.
Forced labour, prostitution or drug related businesses are what the victims are compelled to do and for years, until they repay the cost of their movement to such places, which usually takes years.  
Weekly Trust also gathered that some people, especially footballers, are lured on the pretext of securing for them lucrative football contracts abroad. But they all virtually end up being abandoned or forced to play other games rather than football and without getting their full remunerations, which eventually gets to the sponsors.  
These intercepted victims, who said they are indigenes of Edo State, aged between 20-25 years, were without valid travelling documents and have confessed to have identified the kingpin as their trafficker.  
“We shall continue to be on our toes to curtail the influx of irregular immigrants and apprehension of human traffickers and their victims,” Katsina State NIS comptroller, Ogbumuo, said.