Sometime in February 2019, Ondo State-born Tosin Adetula ,in a video chat, revealed how one Ojo tricked her to Oman. While narrating her ordeal, she alleged that her boss, where she was deployed to work, was demanding sex from her, even after allegedly refusing to pay her four months’ salary.
According to Tosin,when she rebuffed the man’s sexual advances, he dragged her to the office, where ladies, newly trafficked to Oman, are kept for onward movement to their prospective posts.
Adetula recalled: “After my NCE, I saw the situation of things at home and decided to travel out. My agent and I agreed that I would travel to the United States, but I found myself in Oman. We were two ladies that boarded together. When we got to the airport in Oman, two people came to pick us up; we were taken to an office, where our passports and phones were seized. We were then taken to our respective posts.”
Adetula said since there was no salary for four months, she called Ojo and narrated her ordeal, but he told her he had played his role in moving her out of Nigeria. And since then the agent stopped picking her calls.
She said: “I had to do the entire house chore. I wake up by 4a.m. and work till midnight. My boss threatened to kill me if I continued to rebuff his sexual advances. He returned me to the office, where they shouted at me and then locked me up for a week without food and water. I was forced to drink toilet water in order to stay alive. When I was brought out, I was returned to my work. But it’s been a year and four months without salary. I’m now sick and wish to return to Nigeria. I don’t want to die in Oman.”
Ojo, who has been arrested by officials of the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), for trafficking Adetula, denied the allegation.
He said the lady was being economical with the truth. He insisted that he only assisted the victim out of poverty.
Fielding questions from NAPTIP Operatives, Ojo said that he decided to help Adetula to travel to Oman because he didn’t like her condition. He explained that the lady used to come to their office to see his boss and over time, he started seeing her as a sister.
Ojo said: "Adetula used to come to our office every time because she was dating our boss. It was because of the affair between them that my boss made her his Personal Assistant. I informed her about the housemaid job in Oman. She said she would pray over it. The third day, she told me that she was interested, that she wanted to take her mother and siblings out of poverty. I told her that whoever had interest in traveling to Oman, would have to undergo a pregnancy test. The following day, she came with a pregnancy test result. She also took the necessary pictures. We sent all the required items to the agent in Oman. When she agreed on the flight date, her visa was issued and her ticket brought to office.
"In fact, her mother came to our office at Ketu, full of thanks. The woman asked if her daughter was going to Oman for prostitution, it was Tosin who responded that she was going to work as a housemaid.”
According to Ojo, when Adetula got to Oman, she signed a two-year contract with the sourcing company, which means she wouldn’t work for another person.
He noted that Adetula worked briefly in her first post and then ran away, alleging that the children in the house were disturbing her. Two weeks after her disappearance, police found and returned her to her boss. The boss, however, said that he was no longer interested in her services.
Ojo said: "When Adetula told me why she ran away, I told her she didn’t need to because she went to Oman to make money. After a while, she blocked my phone line. I could no longer reach her. I eventually got her through a friend. It was then she told me she had an ulcer and begged me to tell her boss to take her to hospital. I advised her to always put the sourcing company and her boss on record, to prove them wrong whenever they want to deny her some basic things. I did everything for her for free! The agreement was that when she gets to Oman and starts working, my expenses used in funding her travel would be deducted from her salary. In fact, before we started the travelling process, she was aware that the destination country was Oman.”
Ojo in his words: "What I usually do for clients are Dubai visas. When I asked her why she blocked my phone line, she said she wanted to leave her boss’ house. She went to the sourcing office, where she was promised that she would be returned to Nigeria after the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Ojo, however, said that Adetula’s friend told him the reason she wanted to return to Nigeria was because her boss’ wife found out she was sleeping with her husband. The woman had caught her husband and Adetula in a compromising position through the Close Circuit Camera (CCTV) in their house.
Ojo alleged that in order to hasten her return to Nigeria, and to also avoid the wrath of her boss’ wife, Adetula, “made the viral video to blackmail me and the sourcing company in Oman and also to gain public sympathy. Tosin was afraid her boss’ wife would harm her because of the relationship between her and the husband.”
Ojo said that the madam found out about the affair after she was forced to start staying at home because of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The agent added: “Tosin believed her madam would kill her after what she saw on the CCTV. I even went to her mother to explain what transpired between Tosin and her boss. Tosin’s mother prayed that God shouldn’t allow her daughter to get me into trouble. When Tosin returns to Nigeria, the truth will be revealed.”
The Lagos Zonal Commander, NAPTIP, Mr. Daniel Atokolo, said his officers went after the suspect following the viral video, which revealed that Ojo lured the victim, who is a teacher to Oman.
He added: "The Director-General (DG) of our agency, Dame Julie Okah-Donli, ordered us to go after the suspect. We embarked on the arrest following a sustained surveillance and human intelligence gathering. We confirmed the alleged trafficker to be living in the house where he was arrested at about 4a.m. The suspect resisted arrest, but he later succumbed after seeing armed officers.
"Presently, the victim is out of the reach of the traffickers in Oman, and NAPTIP is working with support of international partners to ensure her safe return to Nigeria. I want to use this opportunity to warn travel agents to desist from trafficking Nigerians for exploitative purposes.
"We’re also closing in on other dubious travel agents whose activities have continued to bring pain and agony to the nation.”
