Friday, February 20 2026 -The Plateau State Government has arrested a pregnant bar owner and another woman for allegedly trafficking three girls to Ghana.
The woman, identified as Mrs Yakubu, who operates a bar at
the Rantya community in Jos, was paraded on Thursday, February 19, 2026 at the
State Gender and Equal Opportunities Commission’s headquarters in Jos alongside
the three trafficked victims who were rescued from Ghana.
Two of the girls, aged between 18 and 19 years, were from
Adamawa state, while one was from Plateau state.
Briefing journalists on the situation, the chairperson of
the State Gender Commission, Olivia Dazyam, (pictured) disclosed that the
commission received information about the trafficking and worked with security
agencies to repatriate the girls
“At the state Gender and Equal Opportunities Commission, we
received information about a woman that caused the movement of two girls from
Plateau State to Ghana. God helped the two girls, and they were able to get
back to Jos with the help of the security agencies,” Dazyam said.
According to her, the suspects allegedly trafficked the
girls to Ghana for prostitution, receiving “blood money” from the victims’
activities.
She said one of the suspects’ own daughters is reportedly in
Ghana, involved in the same situation
“We want to let the people of Plateau State know that
traffickers are living in our communities. Why would you want to send young
girls to Ghana to go and do what," she said.
As a matter of fact, two women were involved in the
trafficking. One woman has also caused the trafficking of two girls from Mangu
to Ghana. One escaped, and by the grace of God, she’s back safely now. We are
saying this because we want to let the people of Plateau State know that
traffickers are living in our communities.
"I do not know whether they have any excuse whether to
say this is out of ignorance. There has been a lot of sensitisation out there.
Why would you want to send young girls to Ghana to go and do what? As we speak,
one of the suspects, her own daughter 18 or 19-year-old girl, is in Ghana. What
is she doing in Ghana?” she added.
The chairperson stressed that Governor Caleb Mutfwang had
mandated the commission to publicise such cases with evidence.
Dazyam warned traffickers that they will no longer be kept
quiet and urged Plateau women to join the fight against trafficking.
She said that the suspects will face further investigation
and that the commission aims to uncover more about their activities.
“The repatriated girls have arrived safely, and the
commission is working with security agencies to address the issue”, she added
In an interview, the suspect, Mrs Yakubu, expressed regret
over her actions but claimed that she was only helping the girls to secure a
good job like her daughter in GhanaShe, however, declined to mention the nature
of the business her daughter was doing in Ghana
But the three victims, Humata Ilya, Sendy Emmanuel and
Dorathy Yakubu, in separate interviews, countered Mrs Yakubu’s narrative and
insisted that they were deceived by the suspect and lured into Ghana for
prostitution
“She (suspect)deceived us. We were deceived. She told us
that her daughter is doing gold business in Ghana, not knowing that we were
going into prostitution” Emmanualla said
The punch reported that the suspects and the three
trafficked victims were later moved to the state CID for further
investigation.
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