Police have rescued a 19-year-old girl from a suspected human trafficker as they attempted to the cross to neighboring Tanzania through Rusumo border post in Kirehe District. The suspect, identified as Michael Okoye, a Nigerian national, was also arrested and is currently detained at Kirehe Police station as investigations continue. Preliminary investigations indicate that the suspect, who operates a mobile telephone shop in the City of Kigali, intended to traffic the victim to Dar-el-Salaam where she would be handed to another Nigerian. Inspector of Police (IP) Emmanuel Kayigi, Police spokesperson for the Eastern region, who confirmed the rescue and the subsequent arrest and the suspect, said they received information about a “foreign national” trying to secure travel documents for a young Rwandan girl at Rusumo border. “The suspect and the victim spent a night in a lodge at Rusumo border and the following morning, they went to the immigration office where he tried to help the girl secure a border pass, but police officers were following each development and responded before the girl could board a bus to Dar-el Salaam,” Kayigi said. Although Okoye claims that he was not trafficking the girl, but told Police that he was requested by his fellow Nigerian identified as Steven Adada living in Tanzania, to facilitate the girl link up with him. “We are aware of the existence of human traffickers and the tricks they use to manipulate their targets. Rwanda National Police has put in place strategies to fight such modern day slavery including sensitizing the public about dangers involved and to partner with them to identify and report such traffickers,” IP Kayigi said. He urged the public especially the youth, who are the majority targets, not to be lurred by empty promises from traffickers but instead report such people.
