Operatives of the Edo State Police Command and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, have arrested two suspects for allegedly trafficking a 16-year-old girl to Burkina Faso for prostitution.

The commandant of the NSCDC in Edo State, Gbegan Agu, who paraded the suspects, named them Favour Idemudia, 16, and Precious Akpasuvbe, 25.

According to him, on 29 January 2025, Hope Friday reported her 16-year-old sister missing and suspected Akpasuvbe of being involved in her disappearance.

“Immediately, a combined team of NSCDC intelligence and counter-terrorism units swung into action and arrested the principal suspect, identified as Alex Omoseve, 47, boyfriend of Precious Akpasuvbe, at the Agbor Park area of Benin City.

“During the investigation, the Corps discovered that the missing girl was trafficked to Burkina Faso for prostitution without her parents’ consent.

“The suspects confessed to the crime, and the victim has been brought back from Burkina Faso and reunited with her family,” he said.

Agu said the suspects would be charged in court upon completion of the investigation.

In an interview with reporters, the victim said the suspect, who often came to play Bet9ja in her sister’s shop, promised to take her overseas to work as a housemaid.

“But on reaching Burkina Faso, they told me my job was to sleep with men, and I started crying. I later begged someone who gave me a phone to inform my sister, who wasn’t aware of my journey. That was how I returned to Nigeria,” she stated.

The principal suspect, Alex Omoseve, said he knew the victim at her sister’s shop where he used to play Bet9ja. He alleged that the victim told him she wanted to travel, and he introduced her to his girlfriend, who knew people in Burkina Faso, to help her.

He said he introduced the victim to his girlfriend because he didn’t know anyone there, and that his girlfriend, who was in Burkina Faso before, decided to assist her.

For her part, Precious Akpasuvbe told reporters that they took the victim to Burkina Faso for prostitution. She also confessed they were paid N200,000 by her partner in Burkina Faso.