23 Nigerians, who had fallen victim to human trafficking and forced into slavery have been rescued by the Katsina State Government.
The state Governor, Alhaji Aminu Masari, received the victims on Tuesday night in Katsina after state government officials evacuated them back home from Burkina Faso.
He explained that the victims were lured by an agent who promised them lucrative jobs abroad but ended up selling them as slaves.
He said, ” The attention of the state government was drawn to the plight of the victims through a letter by the Nigerian Ambassador to Burkina Faso, Mrs. Ramatu Mohammed about their presence in that country. Immediately we received the letter, we dispatched our officials to Burkina Faso to rescue the victims,”
The Special Adviser to the governor on Narcotics , Alhaji Hamza Borodo, who led state officials to Burkina Faso, said 23 persons were brought back while two others refused to come back.
He said, “We later understand that the two persons were the agents of one Usman Wagini, who took them there and sold them to a business woman,”
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One of the victims, Usman Suleiman, said that Wagini went to their villages in Kankara Local Government Area and lured them with a promise of good jobs abroad. He said that they were first taken to Lagos and later Cotonou in Togo where a businesswoman bought them and put them into modern slavery.
“We were subjected to different hardships and there was no enough food to eat or water to drink. Whenever anyone of us is sick, he is left to mother destiny to take care of him,”
The victim said that they were forced by necessity to look for the local Hausa Chief in Burkina Faso, who contacted Nigeria’s Ambassador there over their plight.
“We thank God that Gov. Masari assisted and rescued us from that country.”