The Osun State Command of the Nigeria Police Force has confirmed the arrest of a suspected human trafficker identified as Muideen Adebisi, who attempted to steal four teenage girls from Ile-Ife in Osun State to Libya.

The Osun State Police Public Relations Officer, Yemisi Opalola, in a statement on Monday stated that the suspect had invited the victims to a birthday party in Ile-Ife, during which he offered them food and drinks but after the teenagers took the food and drinks, they fell asleep and only woke up at a place in Kano where papers were being processed for them to travel to Libya.

According to the police spokesperson, after they regained consciousness, three of the victims escaped and contacted their parents.

The PPRO however said that the whereabouts of the remaining fourth victim still remained unknown.

“The suspect (Muideen Adebisi), invited the young girls to a birthday party at a hotel in Ile-Ife and gave them food and drinks. After taking the food and drinks, the girls slept off and later woke up in Kano State en route to Tripoli, the capital of Libya.

“Three of the girls escaped miraculously in Kano and called their parents, who reported the matter to the police.

“Three of the girls have been reunited with their families, but the whereabouts of the fourth girl were not known at the time of filing this report,” the statement read.

During interrogation, the police said the suspect insisted that the four girls willingly accepted to go to Libya and work and that his brother who resides in Tripoli instructed him to get girls and send them to a man in Kano who would take them to Libya.

The police spokesperson added that Adebisi further told the police that when he got to the man’s house in Kano, he met many girls that were being processed for the journey to Libya.

The PPRO assured of diligent investigation and said that the suspect would be charged to court in due course.

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