Plateau Taskforce Arrests Human Traffickers, Rescues Pregnant Women

The Plateau State taskforce on anti-human trafficking has arrested 184 suspected human traffickers in a sting operation at the popular Old Airport junction and environs in Jos South local government area of the state.

The taskforce also rescued three pregnant women, seven female minors and nine male minors while 41 female adults, 123 male adults and one person living with disability were among those arrested.

Chairman of the taskforce and state attorney-general and commissioner for justice Philemon Daffi disclosed this while briefing newsmen in Jos at the weekend.

Daffi said the suspects would be profiled, while those found wanting would be made to face the law. Among those in the custody of the taskforce are a Cameroonian and a Nigerien.

According to the commissioner, the operation was an overwhelming success, resulting in several strategic arrests and the rescue of numerous vulnerable citizens who had been trapped in the shadows of societal decay.

He maintained that the victory was not a product of chance or mere luck, stressing that it was rather the culmination of rigorous learning and the strategic application of data.

“We have spent the last several months meticulously auditing our previous operations, identifying where our strategies were brittle and where traffickers found gaps to exploit,” he said.

Daffi also said the taskforce had turned those hard-learned lessons and past weaknesses into the bedrock of the current tactical framework, adding that by leveraging data-driven intelligence and resilient tactical planning, the taskforce had evolved into a more formidable, sophisticated force.

“Last night’s success proves that we are no longer just reacting; we are out-thinking and out-manoeuvring the syndicates that mistakenly believed Plateau State was a safe harbor for their depravity,” he said.

He warned that child prostitution is human trafficking and a grave violation of human rights that the current  administration would no longer view through a lens of “societal issues” or “vagrancy.”

“It is a heinous crime against humanity.

When a minor is engaged in these acts, is no “consent”, it is exploitation, coercion and a gross violation of the Child’s Rights Law,” he said.