English
Kinyarwanda
Rwanda National Police arrested two Rwandan nationals suspected to be involved in the grave crime of human trafficking.
They were arrested last week in a hotel in Nyabugogo with three female victims who were being readied for a trip to Nairobi, Kenya.
The suspects are identified as Solange Mugabekazi Nusru, a resident in Kenya and Murangwa Hussein, residing in Rwanda, and are both held at Kicukiro Police Station as more investigations continue.
Investigations indicate that the two operated a racket that targeted girls above 20 years old and single mothers with children above 5 Years, who would be lured to “work” abroad on the promise of earning between US$450 and US$500.
The Police Commissioner for Public Relations and Media CSP Celestin Twahirwa, who also doubles as Police Spokesperson, underscored that human trafficking in Rwanda is a real threat and not a myth – and urged the public to always provide timely information that helps Police to burst the rackets.
“We would like the public to be aware of these conmen and women who lure young unsuspecting girls and boys into trafficking by promising them heaven on earth yet they end up in misery,” he said.
“Report suspicious characters by giving timely and accurate leading information so that RNP can help you, our lines are free 112, 113, 3512 and we’re also available on email (info@police.gov.rw ), on twitter (@Rwanda Police), and on facebook (Rwanda Police)-we are ready and capable to help you”.
ACP Tony Kulamba, the Commissioner for Interpol at Rwanda National Police, said that joint investigations are underway to combat human traffickers in Rwanda and beyond.
“We have established partnership with regional Police Forces and Interpol to combat organized and transnational crimes,” ACP Tony Kulamba said.
“Five girls have been returned to Rwanda in the last two months and more are yet to arrive mainly from Asian countries and we shall show them to you as usual.”
In an interview, one of the traffickers, a woman, Mugabekazi, denied the crime and tried to justify what she does as a popular business in regional countries.
“My husband (in Kenya) conducts a company which he runs with other friends. It is this company that employed me on a mission to mobilize Young beautiful Rwandan girls aged above 20 yrs for employment,” she said.
It is in this line that she recruited the other suspect, Hussein Murangwa to help her identify such girls in Rwanda.
On his part, Murangwa, told the press that he was not aware that his actions were tantamount to human trafficking, adding that he would never have got involved in it had he known.
“I thought Mugabekazi had jobs for them abroad as she had explained to me, I had no idea that I was getting involved in such dangerous criminal acts,” Murangwa explained.
Police embarked on training more Police officers under the Interpol initiative dubbed ‘Smuggling Training and Operations Programme (STOP)’ which seeks to improve management of borders against trans-national crimes such as human trafficking.
Late last year, Police rescued two Rwandans including a female student who had been trafficked to Zambia, while another Ugandan girl was intercepted at Kigali International Airport as she was being trafficked to Asia.
At least 153 cases of human trafficking were registered in Rwanda since 2009, 90 per cent of them females and 82 per cent of them aged between 18 and 35.
According to United Nations, almost every country in the world is affected by trafficking, whether as a country of origin, transit or destination for victims.
