A 17yr-old-girl traveled to Ghana five months ago, on thr invitation of one of her reliable friend, who promised her a life changing job opportunity.

But she realised too late, just like every other gullible teenager, that she was a victim of human trafficking and forced prostitution.

In a chat with Vanguard 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.

Speaking on her Journey 

The Imo-state- born survivor said: “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.

“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.

“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.

“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”.

Escape plan 

“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.”

Final 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 for young girls 

“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 said.

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 .

Zonal Commander, NAPTIP , Lagos State Command, Mrs Comfort Agboko 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.”