Udoka Enohuean (not real names) confessed
that she went into human trafficking because the government ignored her when
she was a victim.
According to her, in a bid to
get a lucrative job and make life meaningful for her family, she ran into
trouble as she became a prostitute in Burkina Faso. Meanwhile, the job did
not give her the money she craved for.
The native of Ishan, Edo State said:
“I was 18 years old when a business woman in our community took some
ladies and I to Burkina Faso. The initial deal was that she will take us
to Senegal and then to Europe. But, surprisingly, she took us to Burkina Faso
and she was nowhere to be found the following morning we arrived there. Unknown
to us, she had sold us to a man”, She told her story to Sunday Vanguard
during the Lord’s Chosen Charismatic Church yearly programme, tagged, ‘Mgbidi
2015?.”
“Immediately, our heads, armpit,
private parts were shaved and the hair used to initiate us into some cult. So
horrifying, some of the girls went mad during the initiation. You could be
asked to visit a burial ground late in the night for the ritual or sleep
with a dead body. Later, we lived in a hotel where we
operated as prostitutes and what we earned used to pay this man
every day. Everything turned gloomy for me. I found myself in thick
darkness of prostitution that I could not deliver myself from. It was a horrible
situation,”the victim said.
“We had a booklet each
where we recorded our returns everyday and once the money for which we were
sold to the man was paid, which could be paid within five to nine
months, freedom will be organised for such a person.
“My boss took us to a native
doctor who gave us some charm to protect us from being arrested by law
enforcement agents, With the aid of the charm, we could manipulate men to
give us more cash after sex.
“Within months, I completed my
payment but I was tired of such a life and I told my boss I wanted
to go back home. But she refused. So I ran to the community leader
for help. I also went to the Nigerian embassy in Burkinan Faso but no one
listened to me. Rather, the government officials of that country arrested me
and took me to Abuja where I was detained with criminals for three months
in a police station. I was later paraded as a criminal.”
Revenge mission
“After my release, I was
determined to take thousands of Nigerian girls to Burkina Faso. I became a
girl-trafficker. I traveled to my village, dressing gorgeously and flaunting
money to young girls. I was able to take some girls to Burkina Faso. I
did this in annoyance because when I needed help, government officials refused
to help me because the people involved in child-trafficking knew many
security agents and they could bribe their way out. I realized if one could
join the group, it was easy to take girls out of the country.
‘Traffickers take advantage of
porous border’
“The Seme border was a no-go
area for us because security personnel there were very strict, but we
always bribed our way through the Saki border. And there was no need for
international passport to cross the border at the Saki border. An identity card
was enough, especially if it was accompanied by a few Naira notes and we always
had a smooth journey. Most of the officers there knew we were involved in
human trafficking”.
Cry to government
Enohuean, now mother of five
children, called on the Federal Government to tackle youth unemployment from
further being trafficked abroad for prostitution, adding that many of the girls
become victims because of their quest for employment and better life
outside the country. “An unemployed hand is a prey for traffickers.
State and federal governments should please set up a body to look into the
cases of those trafficked abroad, especially for prostitution, with a view
to helping them. We have hundreds of our girls who are tired of the
business of prostitution abroad but now have nowhere to turn
to”, she said.
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