An Edo State High Court (Criminal Division 2), Benin City, has sentenced Edo couple to five years imprisonment for human trafficking offence.

The Edo couple, Idahosa Ota and his wife, Adesuwa, were jailed for conspiracy to commit human trafficking offences brought against them by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).

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The Coordinator of the Benin Zonal Command of NAPTIP, Ganiu Aganran, who disclosed on Wednesday, said the couple was found guilty of exporting a victim to Dubai for prostitution.

He said the offence contravened Section 27 of the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act, 2015.

Aganran described the feat as part of NAPTIP‘s Director-General’s agenda of arresting, prosecuting and convicting high-profile trafficking cases in the country.

Meanwhile, the Benin Zonal Coordinator of NAPTIP has hailed the judiciary’s support in the prosecution of human trafficking cases.

He said: “The Judiciary is also helping us to accelerate the cases. We have a lot of support from the National Industrial Court. too; they have always been ready to take our cases.”

The Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, on Tuesday, said there was a decline in crime rates across the country in the past few months due to the strategies deployed by the police.

Specifically, he noted that major crimes dropped to 416 in the last one month, compared to 734 in May and 530 in June.

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Egbetokun, who spoke during a meeting with Commissioners of Police in Abuja on Tuesday, commended personnel of the Force for their passion and commitment to the execution of his strategies.

He said, “It is gratifying to note that the strategies deployed and duly executed by our officers and their undiluted passion and commitment have yielded significant results across the length and breadth of our nation. Undoubtedly, the results achieved by our men and officers within the past months have accentuated the stability of the internal security order of the country. This is clearly evident by the steady decline in crime rates over the past few months.

“A review of the monthly major crimes returns table revealed a significantly positive outlook. A drop in the major crimes reported in the last month, which stood at 416, compared with 734 and 530 for May and June, respectively.”

Egbetokun added that in the fight against criminal activities in the last month, the police arrested a total of 1,284 individuals nationwide.

He said, “In addition, we recorded remarkable successes in the fight against criminalities in the last month, manifesting in the arrest of a total of 1,284 suspects nationwide, and the recovery of 284 firearms, 6,702 ammunition rounds, 107 vehicles, and we rescued 97 kidnapped victims.”

The IG also said the special task force on petroleum had arrested some suspects and recovered exhibits from them.

He said, “We have taken steps to reorganise and reposition the IGP Special Task Force on Petroleum and Illegal Corporate to enhance their operations as part of efforts towards combating the menace of oil theft in Nigeria. Meanwhile, the task force recently recorded touching incidents of interceptions of suspected stolen goods and arrests of the perpetrators, as well as seizure of exhibits.

“Most of the cases are already in courts for timely dispensation of justice, and others still undergo investigation. It is imperative for me to mention here that the achievements recorded are the outcome of cooperation and collaboration with members of the public and other security agencies. They are also testaments to your dedication and professionalism.”

Ten suspected illegal miners have been arrested with six trucks loaded with illegally mined minerals in Ogbomoso area of Oyo State.

The suspects, arrested by operatives of Ibadan Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC were identified as Yunusa Adisa, Ganiyu Kazeem, Muideen Babayemi, Sulaiman Usman, Adeleke Waliu, Tiamiyu Rokeeb, Olusola Sunday, Oyedokun Oluwagbemiga, Sulaimon Ishiaq and Olufimihan Eniola.

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The truck loaded with illegal minerals arrested by EFCC

Dele Oyewale, spokesperson for the anti-graft agency said in a statement that the six trucks the suspects were arrested with were fully loaded with lithium.

According to the statement, the arrest of the suspects followed credible intelligence on their suspected involvement in criminal extraction of solid mineral resources in the state, especially lithium and their evacuation to unknown destinations.

The suspects would be charged to court upon conclusion of investigations, EFCC said.