TheCable

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) says it has rescued 44 children from suspected child traffickers along Kaduna-Zaria route in Kaduna state.

According to a statement released by the corps, FRSC operatives had initially stopped the Fiat bus, popularly known as J5, for overloading only to discover the children in the bus.

According to Bisi Kazeem, public education officer of FRSC, the patrol team questioned the occupants and got unsatisfactory responses from the adults who claimed they were going for a church programme in a location they could not name.

Kazeem said the driver of the J5 vehicle, identified as Dauda Ezekiel, from Gubuchi village in Makarfi local government area of Kaduna, claimed that he was hired to transport the minors.

He said the sector commander, who got wind of the case after the vehicle was impounded, alerted the commissioner of police in Kaduna.

The vehicle and its occupants, he said, have been handed over to the police criminal investigation department for further investigation.

The FRSC says it reported a similar case on April 27 to the comptroller of immigration and National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).

In that case, 17 minors were found with three suspected adult traffickers, also in Kaduna.

Kazeem said Boboye Oyeyemi, the corps marshal, has applauded the vigilance of the officials of FRSC which led to the apprehension of the suspected child traffickers.