Rather, the police accused officials of NAPTIP of overzealousness, stressing that the accused police officer, Inspector Matthew Esan was never involved in the crime his name was mentioned in.
The Nigeria Police, Airport Command has debunked claim by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) that one of its officers was involved in human trafficking at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos over the weekend.
Rather, the police accused officials of NAPTIP of overzealousness, stressing that the accused police officer, Inspector Matthew Esan was never involved in the crime his name was mentioned in.
The spokesperson for the command, Deputy Superintend of Police (DSP) Joseph Alabi debunked the claim today in an interview with journalists at the Lagos Airport.
Alabi insisted that investigations carried out by the command indicated that the said officer was carrying out his legitimate duties at the airport terminal before the arrest.
He explained that the officer in question had received one Henry on June 9, 2019 at about 7.30pm while on duty at MMIA departure hall.
According to Alabi, the Henry claimed that someone sent him to meet with the officer at the airport.
He added: “While trying to get acquainted with the said person, some men who were later discovered to be NAPTIP operatives descended on him, and seized his phone as well as police Identity Card.
“The officer was later told that he was among a syndicate trafficking young Nigerians to the forthcoming FIFA World Cup in Russia and was later taken to the NAPTIP office alongside some other arrested persons and 10 rescued youths.”
Alabi insisted that investigations by the command revealed that Esan was innocent of the accusations and was released on Monday by NAPTIP after the arrested persons confirmed that they did not know him.
He however declared that the command would continue to work with NAPTIP and other sister agencies towards tackling human trafficking and other criminal activities within the airport environment.
He further assured the travelling public and airport users that the command was committed to their safety and security at all times.
It would be recalled that NAPTIP officials had arrested two police officers and three others believed to have been involved in attempts to traffic 10 children to Moscow.
NAPTIP officials on code name Operation Block intercepted the suspects at MMIA on Saturday night as they allegedly tried to board a Turkish Airlines flight for Russia. They are believed to have been using the Russia 2018 competition as cover for travel.
A statement from NAPTIP had named Esan and quarantine officer Steven Fayewimo as coordinating the movement of the trafficked children.
Both were arrested alongside three others: Azeez Olowo, Idowu Fashakin and Eni Godwin.
The children rescued include nine girls and a boy.
NAPTIP claimed that five of the children being trafficked were from Edo, three from Delta, and one each from Imo and Benue. Eight of them reside in Benin City, and one each in Warri and Osogbo.
It is believed they were moved from their resident locations on Friday to Lagos for the trip to Russia.
However, investigations by our correspondent indicated that virtually all the security agencies participate in human trafficking through the nation’s airports.
Just in March, SaharaReporters reported how two officers of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) were arrested at the same airport for human trafficking.
The officers were arrested for trying to facilitate the trafficking of six underage girls to Omar and Kuwait on an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
The spokesman for the Nigeria Immigration Services, Mr. James Sunday had confirmed the incident to our correspondent.
He said the Comptroller-General of Nigeria Immigration Service, Mr. Mohammed Babandede, had been briefed and had ordered that a thorough investigation should be carried out.
He said the NIS boss also directed that the two officers should be referred to the headquarters where the appropriate disciplinary action would be taken against them.
Besides, further investigation by our correspondent revealed that the suspended officers were yet to return to service, three months after, but there are indications that they would be reabsorbed into the system very soon and redeployed.
A source close to the immigration Commander at the Lagos Airport, Mr. Yashe confided in our correspondent that he (Yashe) may be facilitating the return of the suspended officers to service, but had insisted that they would not be allowed to return to airport.
It was gathered he had sympathy for the suspended officers.