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The Ondo State Police Command has arrested six suspects and rescued 14 victims in two separate cases of transnational human trafficking across the state.
The command’s spokesperson, DSP Abayomi Jimoh, confirmed this in a statement released on Saturday, January 31.
According to the statement, a Togolese national, Meale Yaoili, reported at the Yaba Police Station in Ondo City on January 22, 2026, that fraudsters lured him from Togo to Nigeria with a false promise of securing employment in Canada.
Police said Yaoili disclosed that one Tchodia Potolaw Fidel, who is currently at large and claimed to be based in Canada, deceived him.
He noted that after arriving in Nigeria in 2019, the suspects forcibly seized his personal belongings and detained him against his will after he paid 800,000 CFA francs.
DSP Jimoh stated that police operatives acted swiftly, arrested six suspects linked to the crime, and rescued three victims.
The suspects include Cleude Grao, Samuel Dsiwa, Michael Amissa, Olayiwola Kazeem, Akinubi Adebayo, and Oluwole Vincent, the landlord of the premises where the illegal operation took place.
The police spokesperson also disclosed another incident in Oba-Ile, Akure North Local Government Area. On January 23, 2026, Chief Ojomu of Oba-Ile reported a case initially suspected to be banditry at the Oba-Ile Divisional Headquarters against Umaru Baba and 11 others.
The police later transferred the case to the State Criminal Investigation Department for discreet investigation.
Preliminary findings revealed that the suspects were not bandits but illegal immigrants from the Republic of Chad.
Further investigations showed that the principal suspect, Umaru Baba, allegedly acted as a representative of a company involved in online marketing.
Police alleged that Baba lured, recruited, and sheltered 11 able-bodied men and one woman, all Chadians suspected to be illegal migrants.
He reportedly transported them through the Cameroonian border under the pretence of engaging them as commission-based marketers.
Meanwhile, police are tracing the owner of the house where the victims were harboured, a woman based in Ibadan, for questioning over alleged negligence that allowed the property to be used for criminal activities.
DSP Jimoh said all suspects had made useful statements and assured that investigations were ongoing to arrest fleeing accomplices.
He added that authorities would hand over the rescued victims to their respective embassies for diplomatic action and repatriation.
