I collected N15,000, says vigilante who trafficked schoolgirl to Burkina Faso

Samson Folarin

A member of the Vigilante Group of Nigeria, Ikorodu branch, Rasheed Salau, who allegedly trafficked a schoolgirl to Burkina Faso, says he was paid N15,000.

The Sagamu, Ogun State indigene, claimed that he was not aware that the 14-year-old would be turned into a sex worker.

He explained that he sent her to work with his mother, who owned a beer parlour in the West African country.

PUNCH Metro had reported that the schoolgirl, Risikatu Uthman, was declared missing after she followed a boyfriend on an outing in June 2018.

Although the boyfriend, a motor boy, denied knowledge of her whereabouts, he was arrested and arraigned in court.

After about two months, Risikatu was brought home by a Good Samarithan, who found her in Cotonou, Benin Republic.

Risikatu had told our correspondent that as she was returning home, she was abducted by Rasheed, who claimed to be a policeman.

She alleged that together with eight other girls, they were trafficked to Burkina Faso, where they were forced into prostitution.

The 14-year-old said she was rescued by the police and taken to the Nigerian embassy, from where she found her way back to Nigeria.

Policemen attached to the Ikorodu area command subsequently arrested the suspect.

During a chat with PUNCH Metro at the state police command headquarters in Ikeja on Tuesday, Rasheed said he was a member of the Vigilante Group of Nigeria, and a bricklayer.

He said, “I met her (Risikatu) at my friend’s place. I asked her why she left her parents’ house and she said her parents chased her away from home to look for work.

“I asked her what she wanted to do and she said she was not ready to return home. I showed her my grandmother’s shop and told her to see me later.