AKURE, Nigeria— Police detectives in Ondo State say they have arrested 17 suspected members of two separate transnational human trafficking networks and rescued 14 victims in operations triggered by complaints and intelligence in the state capital, Akure.
In the first case, police said a Togolese national, Meale Yaoili, reported at Yaba Police Station on Jan. 22, 2026, that he had escaped from captivity after being lured from the Togo to Nigeria on the promise of a job opportunity in Canada.
According to the police account, Yaoili said he was convinced by a contact identified as Tchodia Potolaw Fidel (now at large), who allegedly told him there was no Canadian embassy in Togo and that the process would be handled from Nigeria. Police said the complainant alleged his belongings were seized on arrival and he was held against his will after paying 800,000 CFA francs.
Acting on the report, operatives raided the location described as an “illegal camp” and arrested six suspects — named by police as Cleude Grao, Samuel Dsiwa, Michael Amissa, Olayiwola Kazeem, Akinubi Adebayo, and Oluwole Vincent (the landlord of the premises). Police said three victims were rescued during the operation.
A second operation began after a complaint on Jan. 23, 2026, initially filed as suspected banditry by Chief Ojomu of Oba-Ile at the Oba-Ile Divisional Headquarters. The case was transferred to the state criminal investigation department, where investigators said preliminary findings showed the suspects were not bandits, but illegal immigrants from the Republic of Chad living in a duplex around the OSOPADEC area of Akure.
Police alleged the principal suspect, Umaru Baba, was at the centre of cross-border crimes including recruitment, trafficking and modern-day slavery, using an online marketing front to lure and harbour foreign nationals. Investigators said 11 able-bodied men and one female—all described as Chadian nationals—were moved into Nigeria en route the Cameroon border, and are being treated as trafficking victims.
Police said suspects remain in custody as investigations continue to identify accomplices and apprehend those still at large, adding that rescued victims would be handed to relevant embassies for diplomatic action and repatriation.
