Nigeria rescues two victims of child labour in Cameroon

The Nigeria Immigration Service has rescued two teenagers who were victims of child labour from the Cameroon marine waterways.

The victims, Samuel Brown(15) and Joseph Emmanuel (14), were said to have been rescued from the Cameroon waterways to Nigeria by a boat operator, simply identified as Ikang.

The Comptroller of NIS in Cross Rivers State, Mrs. Funke Adeuyi, who made this disclosure on Thursday in Calabar, said that the children were escorted to Nigeria by the help of the Cameroonian Police.

She said they were received by the NIS at the Ikang control post in Bakassi Local Government Area of the state.

According to her, the children were abducted in July 2014 and taken to Cameroon for child labour by an unknown person.

She said, “The children claimed in their story that they were both abducted in July 2014. They are both vulnerable because they are orphans.

“They were induced and abducted at the point where they used to go out to sell sachet water to survive and from there they were taken to an unknown destination.”

Adeuyi said that the children realized themselves only when they got to Cameroon, adding that they were received by one Umoh, who claimed to be their guardian.

“This Umoh used them for different types of hard labour, ranging from fetching of firewood, fishing and making money for the man.

“It was when the children were trying to escape to Nigeria that they met Ikang, the boat operator, who together with the help of the Cameroonian Marine Police, helped them to be escorted to the nearest Immigration post in Nigeria,” she said.

It was learnt that the children, who were in a stable condition, would soon be handed over to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons for further findings.

Adeuyi lauded the effort of the Comptroller General of NIS, Mr. David Parradang, at equipping personnel of the service to fight human trafficking and child labour to a stand-still.

She urged parents not to give out their children to persons with questionable character, adding that child trafficking was a criminal act.