A concerned Benue indigene, Zege’Orkwande Sughnen, has petitioned SAMANAS Transport Company to the Commissioner of Police, Benue State Police Command, Makurdi, calling for a thorough investigation into the alleged transportation of minors.
According to Sughnen, weeks ago his brothers in Lagos, with the assistance of the Nigeria Army, intercepted four Benue minors who were being transported to Lagos on a SAMANAS bus. The survivors were subsequently handed over to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) Lagos Command for investigation, while suspects were also arrested.
Sughnen questioned how the minors were able to book a vehicle at the SAMANAS park in Gboko for a journey to Lagos without parental consent or any accompanying adults. He stressed that transport companies operating in Benue State should act as stakeholders in the fight against human trafficking rather than allegedly enabling it, and urged them to emulate the operational standards of Benue Links Nig. Ltd.
He further raised concerns about the apparent absence of effective child protection mechanisms in the state, calling on relevant authorities to take decisive action to safeguard minors from such risks.
