By Evelyn Usman
Nigeria has become so ‘cheap’ that human traffickers now take our girls to Ghana and Togo for prostitution.
Seventeen-year-old Blessing (not real name) left the shores of Nigeria, for Ghana, five months ago, on the invitation of one of her trusted friends, who promised her a life transforming job opportunity.
But she got more than what she bargained for, as she realized too late, like every other gullible teenager, that she was a victim of human trafficking and forced prostitution.
In a chat with her at The Victims Assistance/Medical Outreach Support for Victims of Human Trafficking,VOTs organized by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, in collaboration with the International Centre for Migration Policy Development,ICMPDunder the framework of the Niger-Nigeria Trafficking in Persons,TIPProject, the Imo-state- born survivor narrated her ordeal.
The journey
“A friend of mine invited me to her place in the month of February 2023, informing that she was about to travel to Ghana for a business trip.
When I requested to know the type of business, she said she was going to work as a housekeeper and would be placed on a monthly salary. She asked if I could come along , I agreed.
“On the day we planned to leave Nigeria, she put a call across to a man whom she said was one of those that would help us get a job in Ghana. The man instructed us not to tell our parents before leaving the house.
Movement
“We boarded a bus to Owerri, where a man received us and took us to The Young Shall Grow Park. He paid our fares, gave my girlfriend some money and also bought some items for us. When we arrived Lagos, we took a cab to Mile 2 park, where we met another man sent by the first one , who travelled with us to Togo, instead of Ghana, the original destination.
Harsh reality
“On arrival , we were taken to a man’s house . Our host’s girlfriend came out to greet us and asked if we knew what we were there to do . We said no.
She dropped the bombshell “You are here for prostitution”.
In shock , I said we were never informed . She said it didn’t matter whether we were informed or not . She took my friend away and left me with another girl I met there “.
Her complaint of being tired, having had a long journey, fell on deaf ears , as she was taken to an unknown building the same evening, to work with other girls her age, as a commercial sex worker.
She said, “I was allowed to rest that night after much complaint. The next day, a lady took me back to ‘work’ and advised me to ‘work’ very hard so that I would be able to pay the money used to bring me there. I was charged 1.2 million cefas ( equivalent to N1.5m) and I was supposed to sleep with as many men as I could, in order to to pay . A girl among them advised me to comply , that If I didn’t, I would be sent to Burkina Faso where I would meet a worse situation”.
Plan to escape
“ At that point I started planning to run away. On the second day of my arrival, I escaped with another girl (Success). But we were caught and brought back. My madam flogged the living day light out of us. She said I won’t return to Nigeria until I paid her money in full. The person she sold me to also beat me.
The oath
“My madam, the girl that sold me to her and two other persons, took me to a herbalist’s shrine, where I was forced to swear an oath that I would die if I tried to escape.
“The herbalist gave some incisions on parts of my body . He gave me a raw egg to drink, smeared its shell with the blood from the incisions , placed me in a particular position, where I was repeating some incantations , after him.
Out of fear of death , I accepted , since I had no choice.
While working in the brothel I was taken to , I fought with one of the girls, Angel, who was drunk on that day. In an attempt to separate us, another girl ,Blessing , stabbed Angel and I. After stabbing us , she warned us never to involve the Police” .
Escape
After several attempts to escape , she said she found another lady who was also brought in like her . With a faint smile on her face, she said, “We had to call in the police who came and effected some arrests. We were taken to the Togo Embassy from where we returned back to Nigeria.
Advise
“I want to advise young girls out there not to allow anyone deceive them into leaving Nigeria for greener pastures. It is all lies, it is a bait to take them into forced prostitution”, she advised.
DG NAPTIP, others speak
Every other teenager present at the Outreach Support for Victims of Human Trafficking (VOTs) has almost the same story to share. Surprisingly, almost all of them were teenagers.
Director-General,NAPTIP, Prof. Fatima Waziri-Azi, lamented that most of the rescued victims of human trafficking never came back better , blaming the cause on parents who give out their children and the society which failed to report such cases when they see them .
Waziri who was represented by Ag. Director Counseling and Rehabilitation, NAPTIP, Angela Agbayekhai, informed that the second phase of the outreach support was for 100 rescued victims of human trafficking in Lagos, Kano, Katsina and Enugu, simultaneously, with the phase in Edo, Abuja and Lagos states.
Mental Trauma
Some doctors were present to provide medical support to the survivors.
Chairman , Nigerian Medical Association(NMA), Lagos Chapter, Dr. Benjamin Olowojebutu, who spoke at the occasion, said most of the girls were traumatized by the experiences, added to the stomach aches.
The team of doctors on ground, according to him, would assist the survivors with physiotherapy, clinical therapy as well as regularly interacting with them .
On her part, Zonal Commander, NAPTIP , Lagos State Command, Mrs Comfort Agboko , explained that the Victims Assistance/Medical Outreach Support for Victims of Human Trafficking (VOTs) under the framework of the Niger-Nigeria Trafficking in Persons (TIP)Project , was borne out of the need to assist victims of human trafficking who returned home with various kinds of ailments.
She said, “When they are being trafficked, they are subjected to different forms of abuse, both sexual and psychological and as a result, at the time they are being rescued , you discovered that some of them are nursing one ailment or another like Hiv/Aids, sexual transmitted Disease(STD),Syphilis, High Blood Pressure, the partners working with us ensure that their medical assistance are being given to them so that when they go to the society they will be able to be united and mentally sound.
Source: Vanguard
