A 12-year-old-girl who was allegedly forced into marrying a supposed 50-year-old man in the Adaka area of Makurdi town has been rescued by the officials of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking In Persons, NAPTIP.
This comes after a human rights activist, Lucky Iduh raised an alarm and then a Makurdi-based humanist, Ukan Kurugh assisted him follow up. The outcry attracted the attention of the NAPTIP officials in Makurdi.
Taking to a post on Facebook, Lucky said the young girl was allegedly deceived into marrying the 50-year-old farmer as his third wife by her family.
The family had told the young girl that she was being handed over to the man who would help raise her and see her through school.
“But when she discovered that she was brought to the man’s house as his third wife, the girl started raising alarm and seeking help to escape from the house. That was what attracted the attention of neighbours who started asking for help for the girl,” he said.
Confirming the rescue of the minor, the NAPTIP Commander, Makurdi Zonal Command, Mrs. Gloria Bai said preliminary investigation revealed that she had been in the forced marriage for about three months and the man had been abusing her assuring that efforts were on to arrest the man who had fled his home.
Bai said: “Yes we have rescued her. We got this report from a concerned citizen and contrary to the media report that NAPTIP was ‘slow and unenthusiastic,’ we swiftly went into action to search for the address where the girl was and when we got the address, we planned to go first thing in the morning so that we get both the man and the victim and by 6am, we were there.
“Unfortunately, the rain came in. We were able to rescue the girl but the man had gone out. We are on it and our officers are already on surveillance to get the man as soon as he is seen”
While assuring that the matter would be thoroughly investigated Mrs. Bai said “the girl will also be taken to the hospital for medical examination and she will undergo proper counseling. We will see how she came to be in his house and if he has contravened the law, we will charge him to court.”