10 suspected human trafficking victims rescued in Busia

Police in Busia District in Eastern Uganda have rescued 10 suspected victims of human trafficking, and arrested seven suspects believed to behind the crime. 

 The victims, who include nine females between the ages of 18 and 23 years, and a 19-year-old male, are said to have been picked from various parts of the country and crammed into a house in Busiwondo Village, Dabani Sub-county where they were found on Wednesday.

 Mr Martin Tsebeni, the officer in-charge of Dabani Police Station, said the suspects duped each of their unsuspecting victims into paying between Shs900,000 and Shs1.2 million and trafficked from Lira, Amolatar, Mbale, Tororo, Soroti, Mukono, Western Uganda and Kisumu [Kenya] after being promised jobs.

 Mr Tsebeni refused to rule out the possibility that the group might be behind other illegal activities at the border.

 “These suspects might not only be involved in human trafficking but trying to cover up their crime under the pretext of doing business,” he said, adding that after investigations are completed, the suspects will be arraigned in Court on charges of human trafficking and extortion.

 Police said they responded to a tip from one of the residents that there was a team conning their victims after trafficking them from various parts of the country.

 One of the victims from Amolatar District said his family had sold two cows to raise Shs1.3 miilion to pay the group after they promised him a job in one of the banks.

 He said: “I come from a very humble family and my father had to sell our only two cows to raise the money which the group was requesting because we hoped that once I got a job, I would change my family’s fortunes.”

 He revealed that in addition to the money he paid, the group allegedly made him pay an additional Shs200,000 as his contribution for rent, but three months after setting foot in Busia, no job was forthcoming. 

 Another victim, who said she was from Mukono District, said her mother acquired a Shs1 million loan to raise the money that the group was asking for, with hope that she would get a well-paying job and repay it.

 Another victim, who was allegedly made to pay Shs900,000, said she was lured to join the group after an unknown person rang her, saying there was a well-paying job opportunity in Busia District. 

 “But when I arrived [in Busia], I was taken to one of the hotels where we were told by the group about job opportunities,” she said, adding that for the three months spent in Busia, life was not good as some days they went without having a meal.

 “We have had to be encouraged to make phone calls and tell fake stories to our parents in order to get money to buy food,” the victim said 

 Mr Gordon Nasasira, the leader of the group, however, denied trafficking and extorting money from the victims, saying they worked with “Empowered Consumerism” an organisation which gives business opportunities to unemployed youth.

 “We are a new organisation that provides business solutions to unemployed youths; we tell you about the business, how you can earn money and it’s you to either accept to pay the money and join the business or opt out,” Mr Nasasira, who is a resident of Kabale District, said.

 Mr Nasasira, however, cited a breakdown in information flow between the Busia team and their head office in Kampala as reason why his alleged victims had not started earning from their business.

 Mr Faizal Ngolobe, a youth leader in Dabani Sub-county, who reported the matter to the Police, said he learnt about the crime from one of the victims who came to them, complaining that he had been duped of his money by a group of men.

 “We initially thought he was alone, but when I reported to the Police and went to the house the group rented, we established that the victims were many,” Mr Ngolobe said. 

 Mr Stephen Baali, the Dabani Sub-county LC3 chairman, wondered how a group of people would come to his area and recruit people from various parts of the country under the guise of recruiting them without their knowledge.