The Edo State Migration Agency has successfully rescued a 27-year-old indigene, Godstime Uwoghiren, who was allegedly poisoned by friends in Burkina Faso after purchasing a motorcycle.
Uwoghiren, who is paralysed and unconscious, arrived at the Benin Airport on Wednesday around 1:00 p.m. He was immediately placed in an ambulance and taken to the Edo Specialist Hospital for urgent medical care.
Speaking to journalists at the airport, the Director-General of the agency, Lucky Agazuma, revealed that the victim’s plight was brought to the attention of the state government, prompting Governor Monday Okpebholo to order his immediate repatriation.
Agazuma explained that the process was delayed due to challenges in securing accurate information from the victim’s family.
“When they reached out to the governor that Godstime was sick, paralysed, and poisoned in Burkina Faso over a bike, the only contact we had was his sister. Unfortunately, she refused to cooperate for four months. Despite the family’s initial resistance, Governor Okpebholo insisted we must bring him back—and we succeeded,” he said.
He further urged parents to caution their children against irregular migration, stressing that many Nigerians are suffering abroad under harsh and dangerous conditions.
The victim’s mother, Mrs. Susan Uwoghiren, expressed gratitude to the governor for intervening, noting that her family had been worried since losing contact with him months ago.
“He left Benin to learn truck driving but later called his father saying he was travelling out. The next thing we heard was that he was in Burkina Faso. We kept in touch until suddenly communication stopped. We later learnt he was seriously ill. We prayed endlessly, and today, we thank God he is back,” she said tearfully.
This rescue follows recent successes by the Edo State Migration Agency, including the return of a young woman trafficked to Mali under false pretences and the interception of two minors, aged 13 and 14, en route to Libya for trafficking.
Under both previous and current administrations, Edo State has intensified efforts to curb irregular migration, following years of devastating cases where victims, particularly women, were trafficked into prostitution or subjected to inhumane treatment abroad.
