The Edo State Taskforce on Human Trafficking has arrested a 42-year-old woman, Juliet Ukhurebor, for alleged human trafficking.
The suspect was arrested by taskforce officials at her shrine in Benin City. A native pot containing concoctions was recovered from her as evidence.
The Secretary of the taskforce, Mrs. Pauline Irusota, shared this information with newsmen at a press briefing in Benin City. She said, “The suspect was arrested alongside one Joy Osawe.”
Irusota explained that the arrests followed a petition by a 25-year-old woman, Rita Godwin. “The prime suspect, Juliet Ukhurebor, in collaboration with her daughter in India, forged Ghanaian passports and other documents for the victims to smuggle them to India,” she said.
The taskforce discovered that Ukhurebor had already succeeded in smuggling a girl named Juliet Osagie to India. Irusota added, “The prime suspect only revealed to the victims after taking an oath that they were heading to India for prostitution.”
When Rita Godwin learned of this, she refused to make the final journey to Abuja, en route to India. “Following the refusal of the petitioner to travel to India, the prime suspect and a native doctor from Enugu State began issuing threats to the petitioner, demanding she pay N8 million, being the money used to process her traveling documents,” Irusota stated.
The suspect was arrested at her shrine, where a native pot containing concoctions was recovered as evidence. In an interview, Juliet Ukhurebor admitted, “I made my victims swear on oath before traveling out of the country to deter them from refusing to obey instructions.”
She claimed the oath-taking was meant to threaten the victims into complying with her daughter’s instructions in India.
Ukhurebor said, “I acted on the instructions of my India-based daughter, who requested a female nanny from Nigeria. She asked them to take an oath because she spent money on the would-be nannies’ travel documents, so they would not get there and abscond or refuse to pay her back for the expenses incurred on their documents.”
