English
Kinyarwanda
Police has rescued a 19-year old Rwandan girl from a suspected human trafficker as they attempted to the cross to the neighboring Tanzania through Rusumo border post in Kirehe district.
The would-be victim was rescued on July 17. The suspect identified as Michael Okoye, a Nigerian national was also arrested and 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 the man was trying to help the girl secure a border pass, but police officers were following each development, they responded before the girl boarded a bus to Dar-el Salaam," IP 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 carried by empty promises from traffickers, instead report such people so that they are arrested.
Article 250 of the penal code defines human trafficking as means by which the individual becomes a commodity consisting in recruitment, transfer of a person to another part of the country or to another country by use of deception, threat, force or coercion, position of authority over the person, in most cases for the purpose of harming his/her life or unlawfully exploiting by indecent assault, prostitution, unlawful practices, practices similar to slavery by torturing and subjecting to cruel treatment or domestic servitude because he/she is vulnerable due to troubles with the authorities, being a single pregnant woman, ill, disabled or due to other situation which impairs a normal person to act.
Under Article 251 any person who participates in any way, personally or through an intermediary, in trafficking a person out of Rwanda to a foreign country shall be liable to a term of imprisonment of one to three years and a fine of Rwf500,000 to Rwf2 million.
