The police in Akwa Ibom State, South-south Nigeria, have arrested a suspected human trafficker and rescued two victims.
Timfon John, the police spokesperson in the state, disclosed this in a statement forwarded to PREMIUM TIMES on Sunday.
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Ms John, a deputy superintendent of police, identified the suspect as Alex Omosivie, 47, from Edo State.
“The arrest was made following reliable intelligence that Mr Omosivie frequently came to Uyo to traffic young women to various African countries for prostitution and other illicit activities,” she said.
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According to the police, the suspect was arrested on Tuesday at a hotel located along Ring Road 3 in Uyo.
“During the arrest, police rescued two victims,” Ms John added.
The suspect, the police said, is a deportee from “an African country, who had recently trafficked two other young women: Odo Asuquo, 18, to Libya in July 2025, and Glory Asuquo, 16, to Burkina Faso on August 18, 2025.
Meanwhile, in a separate statement forwarded to PREMIUM TIMES on Saturday, Ms John said operatives in the state had arrested a suspect linked to a case of rape and armed robbery in the state.
The suspect, identified as Happiness Iseyen, 26, was arrested on Wednesday, with one locally made pistol recovered from him, according to the police.
Another breakthrough
The police in Akwa Ibom have continued to record successes in crime fighting. The latest came about a month after operatives in the state rescued 20 Ghanaians allegedly trafficked into the state.
Ms John had said that the operation leading to the rescue was a collaborative effort, following a request for assistance from the Ghana Police Service and the International Police.
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“Acting on credible information, operatives surrounded a well-fenced building at 4:17 p.m. on Monday, 18 August 2025. The raid resulted in the rescue of 10 males and 10 females, all of whom were confirmed to be Ghanaian nationals.
The victims appeared disoriented and could not provide useful information, leading investigators to suspect they may have been hypnotised,” Ms John said, and promised to update the public on the outcome of the investigation.
Their rescue came four months after the police rescued a two-day-old baby, and arrested two traffickers who allegedly wanted to sell the baby for N800,000.
