VIDEO/PHOTO: "THEY WANT TO KILL ME" ~~EDO LADY WHO WAS TRAFFICKED TO ITALY FOR PROSTITUTION CRIES OUT !

In a video currently treading on social media, a young  Edo state indigene lady,  residing in Italy and a victim of human trafficking, is crying out for help saying some persons want to kill her. In the video, she called on the United Nations to save her from individuals that are after her. She spoke both in English and in Edo dialect. Watch the video below...

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

FULL STORY: HOW MY PASTOR AND HIS SISTER LURED ME TO RUSSIA FOR PROSTITUTION ~~Florence

Florence Inset: •Pastor Ehozie … suspected recruiter

The war against human trafficking intensified in Edo State last week after whistle blowers informed security agents about the arrival of a Russian based alleged human trafficker,Vivian Ehioze. Consequently, she was arrested alongside her brother, Pastor Endurance Ehioze, said to be her recruiter.

 One of their victims was alleged to be a 23-year-old-lady, Florence Abu, said to have been trafficked to Russia for prostitution when she was 17.

While victim Florence, who was deported to Nigeria after she had suffered some strange ailment, is being treated at a hospital, Vivian and Emmanuel are cooling their feet in prison after a magistrate court in Ekiadolor asked them to be remanded.

Meanwhile, Florence narrated her story to Sunday Vanguard. “It all started in 2012 when a pastor in my church, Endurance Ehioze, called me to say he wanted to see me.  He asked me if I will like to travel out of the country and I said yes. I told him that I was constrained financially; so he said money was not the problem and that he had a sister abroad that will finance my trip. He further told me that I could pay off the sister off in less than two months after my arrival abroad. He added that I shouldn’t be afraid of making money abroad since and I am a good singer and hair stylist. The pastor further told me that I might be lucky to even come across a white man that will support me”, the victim started.

 “Later, he (Endurance} gave me her sister’s number in Russia called Vivian Ehioze.  When I flashed her, she called me and introduced herself. She asked me if I  was interested in leaving the country, saying as long as I was interested I should get my passport ready which I did by borrowing N30, 000 from LAPO, and I called her to tell her that my passport was ready.

“She asked me to give the passport to Pastor Endurance (the brother) as he will handle everything. She gave me words of encouragement that everything will be fine. Few days later, she called again to say I should pack my luggage and take it to her mother’s place enroute to Lagos. But when I got to the mother’s place, she told me it was late to travel to Lagos that same day. The next morning, she woke me up and said there must be an agreement between us because many girls, when they get to Russia, don’t often pay her daughter back the money spent to take them abroad. So, she said, she must take something from me as an oath and that once I finished paying her daughter, I will have to pay her some money as well. I was surprised that Endurance, who is a pastor, encouraged me to undertake such oath. I had thought that as a Christian we will do it the Christian way. Finally, the mother took strands of hair from my head, armpit, private part and she also collected my pant for the oath taking”.

 She went on: “When I arrived Lagos, the next day, an elder brother of Madam Vivian (name withheld) came to pick me from the park and took me to a hotel. He brought out a slip of paper from his pocket and said it was my visa application and that it was genuine. He told me to relax and  that I should use what I have to get what I wanted. I was shocked when he took my phone according to an order from Vivian so that nobody might call to discourage me from proceeding on the trip.  I asked him how I will be able to communicate with my mother since he had collected my phone and he assured me that Endurance (pastor) will be the link man if I wanted to speak to my mother.
“Immediately thereafter, he brought out a condom and asked that I should pull off my dress. I resisted him but he forcefully had his way. He said it should be a secret between the two of us and threatened that if I disclosed it to any one, something terrible will happen to me. He took me to his house and asked me to pretend about it. For the two weeks period I waited for my visa, it was hell for me in the house. He molested me regularly but thankfully my visa came in February 2013”. “When I arrived in Russia, Vivian came to pick me up at the airport and she took me to her place in Moscow. The first thing she did was to take my passport away from me. She said the passport now belonged to her.  The third day, at about 9pm, she asked me to dress up. She took me on a road walk during which I met several Nigerian girls prostituting on the street and that was how I was lured into prostitution. I started paying the money ($45,000} and once I finished paying, I was deported to Nigeria. Apart from that, I was inflicted with a strange ailment. Life was so unbearable for me so much so that I was put under medication for almost one year. The doctors treating me couldn’t handle my case. The doctors said other people with worse health situations had been treated and wondered why my own case was different. When I couldn’t bear it, I had to tell my mother about it. It was my mother that used to send me black soap and cream from Nigeria through courier to treat the ailment. At a point, it was my mother that was sending money to me to pay my house rent. Life there became difficult so much so that I had to go to Nigerian embassy in Russia for help before I was deported”.

 Asked if she was aware she was being trafficked for prostitution, Forence said: “I was 17 years old then. My madam lied to me that life was far better over there and that if I didn’t want to stay in Russia, I could travel to another country. I made all the  credits I needed at O’ level but there was no money to further my education; so when the opportunity came, I jumped at it. Besides, my mum was owing a huge debt and I wanted to help her because of the embarrassment. But what my madam told me was completely different from what I met in Russia. I was molested to point that I took ill. I was using gas water because of acute chest pain arising from the torture I received from my madam. Sometimes I will just collapse. I was always on drugs. And the she abandoned me in Russia and came to Nigeria to look for other girls to traffick. I couldn’t cope with life; so I was deported with other girls who were going through the same situation as l. If it is possible, some of our girls in Russia will trek back home because the suffering there is huge, some of them are beggars there.
 “ I want to advise young girls hoping to be taken abroad to work that all that glitters is not gold. Yes, abroad is beautiful, but if you are going to be trafficked by someone, you should cry out. Life there is not what they paint to you. Many girls out there are dead and their parents think they are alive. Out of the 300 girls deported in the last one year, about 100 of them are HIV positive. Our girls should learn trades and empower themselves rather than going abroad for prostitution.
I want to thank Edo State Commissioner of Police because he has fought for me by apprehending my traffickers (madam and her brother). I came in contact with an NGO (Solomon Okoduwa) through one girl called Gift when we were at the NAPTIP detention centre in Lagos. Okoduwa has been helping me to settle down and was instrumental to the arrest of my madam and her brother” Corroborating the victim’s story, her other, Madam Josephine Abu, who wept profusely, said, “My daughter was assisted to travel through Endurance our pastor, who is the second in command to the senior pastor of our church.

The suffering was too much for me to bear. He said since I was indebted to some people and I could not pay, he would help my daughter to travel abroad. He (Endurance) assured me that since my daughter is a hair stylist, she will make money in Russia.  For a long time, I didn’t hear from my daughter until she called to say she was seriously ill and could not bear staying in Russia any longer and had to be deported”.

 The National Coordinator of the Initiative for Youth Awareness on Migration, Immigration, Development and Reintegration (IYAMIDR), Comrade Okoduwa Solomon, who described Florence’s story as very pathetic, narrated how the suspected traffickers were arrested. “Information reached us that her madam was in town to recruit young girls to be taken to Russia. So, we contacted the police who swung into action by arresting the said madam and her brother. The Commissioner of Police and the NAPTIP acted wonderfully. Apart from this girl, we have other victims and that is why we are trying to reach out to Governor Godwin Obaseki to help us rehabilitate these girls. “They are our children and sisters, so that they can be assisted to be useful to themselves and the society. Parents should also caution their children against illegal migration”.

Read more at: (VANGUARD)

HOW A POPULAR BENIN PASTOR LURED HER MEMBER INTO PROSTITUTION

A 24-year-old girl yesterday painted a sordid picture of how a pastor she fellowships with at the Heavenly Ambassadors’ Ministries Inc. lured her into prostitution.


Florence (surname withheld), a former stylist, dancer and singer while with the church located at Isihor on the busy Benin-Lagos Expressway in Ovia North East Local Government Area of Edo State, said she was tricked while she was 18 years old by Pastor Endurance Eghoze to travel to meet his sister based in Russia with the hope of assisting her to look for a greener pasture overseas but ended up in the web of street hawkers there.

Florence said she worked tirelessly for four years (2013 to 2017) to pay an agreed sum of $45,000 (about N17.1 million) to her ‘Madam’ and trafficker, Ms. Vivian Eghoze, who later dumped her on the streets of Russia before she was deported home in February.

Already, operatives of the state police command have arrested Vivian and her brother, Endurance.

The arrest was made possible following a tip-off by an Edo-based Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Initiative for Youths Awareness on Migration, Immigration, Development and Reintegration (IYAMIDR).

When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Moses Nkombe, confirmed their arrest.
He said: “The matter is being investigated by the police.”

Florence, who has been reunited with her family, is begging for urgent assistance from good-spirited individuals and government.

She said after paying her ‘madam’ the huge sum, she is also battling to save herself from a mysterious ailment.

Vivian and Endurance have allegedly trafficked over 45 girls for prostitutions overseas.

The victims said they were daily subjected to excruciating conditions in cold of the nights to meet customers without anything to show for their years of enslavement.

According to them, even their parents and relations wallow in hunger, poverty and emptiness except for the lavish lifestyles of their hosts and their exotic cars and eye-pooping mansions.

Florence explained that her trouble started in late 2012 when her mother amid cries and wailing narrated her plight of being locked in huge debt to their pastor, who is also the second in command of the church, who quickly cashed in on the ugly situation to convince her to join his sister in Russia.

She added that a few days before she travelled to Lagos to meet Vivian’s close relations, her mother who was in Benin compelled her to take an oath of secrecy after collection of her pubic hair, pants and braziers while ‘madam’s uncle also raped her in a hotel room where she was lodged preparatory for Russia and sternly warned her not to tell anyone about the illicit act.

She said: “I had to borrow money to do my passport. She keeps calling and assuring me that all will be well. I was made to take oath of allegiance.

“I borrowed N30,000 from a cooperative society, to do my passport and I told her (Ms Vivian) that my passport was ready and she said okay. And from there I proceeded to another level at which she called Endurance that they would be the ones to run everything and that my mind should be at rest. After some weeks, she called me again and gave me words of encouragement. That was how we ended our talk.”

NewTelegraph

WAKAJUGBE: SEX WORKERS TAKE OVER EJIGBO SECRETARIAT IN LAGOS FOR SHORT TIME RUNS (20)

It appears that the economic situation in the country has really affected the women of easy virtues as most can no longer afford to pay for their rooms in brothels and are now forced to do their runs outside.

Many of them have now found solace at the Ejigbo Local Council Development secretariat along Ikotun/ Isolo road in Ejigbo.

P.M.EXPRESS undercover findings revealed that the booming business cut across all sizes and kind of women comprising married, single, students who are competing with professional sex workers and others.

It was also gathered that the business is conducted in collaboration with Council workers who give them access to the secretariat; to use every corners for short time sex and thereafter collect token fees.

This was yet to be confirmed or denied by the Council management.

The sex workers, do offer different kinds of services; the popular one is the one they bend down and the patrons penetrate from back.

However, it was learnt that such patrons must watch their pockets otherwise they will lose money and any other valuable in their pockets during the act.

Apart from the secretariat, tankers drivers who usually parked their trucks at the NNPC depot also convert their trucks to serve as makeshift accommodation for the business.

One of the patrons simply known as Ben, said it first started from the NNPC junction before it eventually spread to the local government secretariat and it appeared both the sex workers and their patrons were happy over the standard of the services rendered.

P.M.EXPRESS asked to know who patronises the ladies and Ben explained that the tanker drivers and their assistants constitute big market for sex workers because hundreds of tankers come to the NNPC depot daily and in most cases they stay till the following day.

He also explained that there were hotels within the axis but the cost of paying for chalets is on the high side and so many patrons resort to road side sex at reduced fee.

He said one can easily get their services by paying between N300 and N500 unless such patrons want ‘take-away’.

“The unique thing about this place is that you can see a fine and big woman you may not have the courage to talk to elsewhere, but you can have her here with N500,” Ben explained.

When our correspondent attempted to speak to some of the workers, they declined and said that was not what they came there to do.

However, one of the workers, Jane said the area is booming because of cost implication.

She said she was paying N30, 000 every month to a hotel owner where she rented half of a room space but could not cope with the rent due to low patronage.

She explained, “I make more money here because I spend less on space and there are reasonable customers.”

Efforts to speak with the council management was not successful as the PRO was said not to be in the office to respond.

(Pmexpressng)

PROSTITUTION: 12 EDO GIRLS ARRESTED IN KATSINA ON THEIR WAY TO EUROPE

Seven girls using hijab to disguise themselves and evade arrest were among the 12 persons intercepted by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) in Katsina on their way to Europe.

This brings the total number of persons apprehended by the NIS to 40 in the last four months as they tried to cross various legal and illegal routes to Agadez in Niger Republic en route Libya then Europe.

While parading the rescued victims, the Comptroller of Immigration in the state, Mohammed Yaro Rabiu, said the hijab was a decoy intended to camouflage and get easy passage at the border. “All the rescued victims are Nigerians from Edo State and will be handed over to NAPTIP for further action,” he said.

“The victims are Dennis Igbobo, Elvis Osas, Earnest Ugiagbe, Bright John, Lucky Iyare, Gift Osagie, Godday Ruth, Ovioma Gift, Otoboh Fabour, Believe James, Endurance Idemadia and Marian Josiah.”
According to Daily Trust, some of the victims said that they were pushed by hardship and the search for better opportunities.

PHOTOS; WOMAN SO TO NIGERIAN MEN IN SOUTH AFRICA NARRATES HER ORDEAL

In 2010, Valerie Madondo (second from left) from Zimbabwe crossed the South African border in search of employment. She hoped to earn enough to provide for her infant boys. But her journey took a harrowing turn for the worse after she was sold to Nigerian men by South African women in Rosettenville.

Valerie, now 29, was held captive by these men for six years. Speaking to the CHRONICLE, Valerie shares how she was trafficked in 2010, drugged, abused, sold as a prostitute, locked up, held hostage and raped countless times.

“I came here looking for a job and worked in Pretoria for a while. I trusted some women who said they had a job interview for me. Little did I know that I was being sold to Nigerians for money,” said Valerie.

“I was drugged and abused. I didn’t know where I was and I was often locked up like a hostage. I was raped and I didn’t have any choices in my life while I was a prisoner under these Nigerian monsters. And yes, I tried to escape many times from the Rosettenville area, but I was on so many different drugs that the men would eventually find me as I would not make it very far. I could not escape,”
At this point Valerie was homeless and without money. She received barely enough food for survival, and whatever money she made from the prostitution she was forced into was taken away from her.
“At one point I was arrested. It was around 2014. I was arrested for selling drugs, drugs that I was very much hooked on and craved more than anything else because it was forced into my system. I watched as my kidnappers bailed me out and bribed the police to have me released. I feared all Nigerians and I still do when I see one,” she recalled.


When all hope seemed lost, the Moffatt View Police conducted a house-to-house inspection on November 28, 2016, in Rosettenville and rescued many young women. Valerie was one of them. She was taken in by the police after she cried out for help and was immediately taken to the REC Wellness Centre in Robertsham (Recovery Life Institute)

After her examination it was evident that Valerie had lost a lot of weight in the six years that she was held captive. She is now HIV-positive. Shenaaz from the centre said that Valerie has been doing great work while under their care.
"We took Valerie in and since then she has never gone far off or left the premises. She has had no relapse and she has been doing well in dealing with all the problems she now faces," said Shenaaz.
Moffat View SAPS also commented, saying that on December 1, 2016, during the 16 Days of Activism, the Moffat View SAPS Women’s Network, social crime prevention and communications units visited the brothels and spoke with the ladies found on that night.

"Two ladies were rescued at Berg Street. One was taken back home to Soweto and the other one was taken to rehab at Robertsham. It was earlier in April that the women’s network raised funds so that Valerie can go back home to Zimbabwe. A while later we were visited by Shenaaz and Valerie, who came to thank the management for what the station did,’’ said Constable Mikateko Rebecca Bila, communications officer at Moffat View SAPS"
"I am grateful for all the fundraisers that were held to help get me back home. I got all my papers in order with the help of the Centre and I now have my ticket to go home to Zimbabwe. I am very excited,” said Valerie.
Valerie’s bus left from Park Station at 2pm on Tuesday May 9. The centre thanks the Moffat View Police for the fundraisers and drives held to raise money for clothes and toiletries etc. for Valerie.
Source: The Chronicle

PROSTITUTION: ITALIAN AUTHORITIES SET TO CHECKMATE 12,000 NIGERIAN PROSTITUTES IN ITALY ! (PHOTOS)

 The Italian authorities are now set to checkmate the nightmare stirred by about 12,000 prostitutes from Nigeria who arrived Italy between 2015 and 2016.

Data from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) shows – a six-fold increase on the previous two years. Almost 80 percent of the young women are victims of trafficking, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), placing law enforcement agencies under pressure to uproot expanding Nigerian criminal networks, lawyers say.

When prosecutor Lina Trovato of Italy first came across a sex trafficking suspect called “Mummy”i.e female boss, back in the West African state, she sensed she was onto something especially sinister.

“If one of the (trafficked sex worker) girls went astray, the agents in Italy always informed ‘Mummy’ – otherwise known as the Queen Bee of Nigerian trafficking – so she could keep them in line,” Trovato told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Arrests are being made in cities across Italy, to checkmate the growth of prostitution in the country.

 According to Italian police, Nigerian crime gangs have proliferated in Italy, controlling an extensive network of prostitutes and ordering them “on demand” from Nigeria, Italian police.  But now the Nigerian gangs, who have been active in Italy for more than a decade, are taking on increasingly violent tactics, including knife crime and even forging close relations with notorious mafia groups, the Cosa Nostra and the Camorra, law enforcement agencies in Italy say.

Nigerian prostitutes frequently end up working as recruiters or “madams” for new arrivals from Africa, prosecutors say.

Nigerian prostitutes in Italy use makeshift chalets in outskirts of the city. These former sex workers  ( now 'madams') help with the logistics of slavery, driving trafficking  victims to the cities where they become prostitutes, Trovato said. But trends are changing.
“The people who export (Nigerian victims) are in other countries,” Spedale said. “But there is a mastermind controlling it in Italy. It exists.”

 When asked questions about the illegal trade run by Nigerians, many stick to the code of silence, in a bid not to incur the wrath of gangs controlling the sex racket.
At night, a few hundred meters away, West African women in short-cut dresses plied their trade in dimly lit streets alongside the port. Many work for pimps who remain out of sight, local campaigners say. But the killing in 2011 of one Nigerian trafficking victim still strikes fear in the community.

“Favour” Nike Adekune was murdered in Palermo’s historic center in a crime that shocked the 500-strong Nigerian community, according to Nino Rocca, a local rights activist. Adekune – from Benin City in Nigeria’s southern Edo state – had been working as a sex worker to pay off debts to her pimps, Rocca said. After one of Adekune’s clients was convicted of her murder, something mysterious happened to her body, he said.

Black magic or “juju” rituals,plays a great role in the sex trade, most ladies have to undergo rituals before they are trafficked to Italy.... pubic hair, fingernails and blood collected from trafficking victims as they are made to swear never to report their situation to authorities, rights groups say.

“One woman we spoke to was made to swallow an egg whole,” Kevin Hyland, Britain’s anti-slavery commissioner, said in an interview in London. “It obviously had some kind of drug in it: She was raped daily.”

Victims of sex trafficking often do not want to point the finger at the madams or pimps because they are worried about repercussions or juju, Catania-based prosecutor Lino Trovato said.