By Zainab Oyekan
Two pregnant women and a nursing mother were among suspected labourers intercepted on the way to mining sites in Oyo State at an illegal motor park in Jos by operatives of Plateau Gender and Equal Opportunities Commission.
The illegal motor park had operated for nearly ten years without detection, Mrs Olivia Dazyam, Chairperson of the commission, disclosed at a news conference on Friday in Jos.
According to her, preliminary findings showed that passengers, including children below 18 years, were being recruited as labourers in mining camps in three Ibadan communities.
Dazyam said that a whistleblower from the Zawan community in Jos had alerted the commission via text message, describing how the park loaded passengers from Jos to Sepeteri, a mining community in Ibadan, only on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
She said officials of the commission immediately swung into action and apprehended 11 minors and three women who were prepared to travel on a bus.
She said that upon inquiry, the Commissioner for Transportation confirmed that the park was illegal, and security agencies were immediately invited to begin investigation into its operations.
“The recruits do not pay transport fares. Instead, the organisers pay only after delivering them to the mining sites, where they work for the first six days to cover for their travel expenses,” Dazyam said.
She said among those intercepted were two pregnant women, a nursing mother, and several young boys who had dropped out of school.
The chairperson said one of the parents of the minors came to the commission and admitted that he did not know his two children were travelling.
Dazyam expressed concern that some returnees from Sepeteri looked unwell, and corpses were reportedly brought back on Tuesdays when vehicles returned.
She, therefore, appealed to community leaders and parents to be vigilant, saying Gov. Caleb Mutfwang had zero tolerance for child labour and mining by minors.
The chairperson thanked the whistleblower and urged residents to speak up early when they noticed suspicious activities around their neighbourhoods.
She confirmed that the recruiters among the group would be referred to the police for further questioning, while the rescued persons would be reunited with their families.
Speaking in an interview, the two pregnant women and the nursing mother expressed regrets over the incident.
Mrs Elizabeth Pam, a 21-year-old nursing mother, claimed that she was travelling to meet her husband when she was apprehended by the commission.
Mrs Bridget Moses, a 25-year-old pregnant woman also said she was also going to Ibadan to visit her husband.
Mrs. Abigail Samson, a pregnant 29-year-old, said that she came to Jos to farm and was returning to Ibadan when she was apprehended.
Some of the minors, however, admitted that they were going to Sepeteri to work and earn a living.
(NAN)
