Her financial disposition seemed to be the qualification that the cross-border pimps who recruited her into prostitution were looking for. Frail-looking but generally affable, Sadiat (as we shall call her in order to protect her identity) was recruited into international prostitution by family friends who promised to get her a transnational job through which she could earn foreign currency and liberate her family from poverty.
Punch reports that the gory story started early March 2014, when a supposed female cousin approached her, telling her that as an auxiliary nurse, Sadiat’s skills are in utmost demand overseas and that she could earn much money if she agreed to travel. Continue...
She was told she would need N150,000 to process her travel documents and also procure flight tickets for the journey. Certainly, the amount of money she was told to pay was nowhere near how much it costs to travel abroad, but her handlers seem adept at human psychology. They knew, for instance, that if they asked for too much, she might reject the offer altogether; and they also knew that they must portray the entire offer as a goodwill offering to a distant relation.
It worked. Sadiat told them she didn’t have such money anywhere, and they quickly agreed to help out – only that she must promise to repay her loan within four months of berthing in her foreign base. It didn’t occur to this fledgling young woman that if these relations meant well, they would have approached her parents directly. But even at that, she says, her parents were just too willing to let her “try her luck,” since the overall goal was to earn good money for herself and to also take care of her ageing parents on the long run.
Asked if she or her parents were absolutely unaware of the fact that the offer is not a new thing and that many young women have been ensnared in international prostitution through such recruitments, Sadiat says she didn’t know of any such practice until she became a victim. In the interim, her parents, afraid that her boyfriend might not support her journey, told her to keep it to herself and that when she settled overseas, she could contact him and possibly persuade him to join her there.
Surprises all the way
Her parents, poor traders that they are, scrounged N50,000 – approximately one third of the recommended amount – and delivered the money to the recruiters. The impression the traffickers gave their victim and her parents was that Sadiat would be travelling by air. It wasn’t to be. That was surprise number one, as she later recalls.
As the day of the journey got near, her recruiters counseled the family to equip her with dry meat and fish, as well as cassava flour which she would need overseas before she adjusts to local diet. Surprise number two was on the way and it came as a rude shock to Sadiat. She had thought that she was the only person who was travelling with Auntie (as the recruiter is called), but it turned out that 12 candidates – comprising three boys and nine girls, one of which was Sadiat’s 16-year-old relation – had been scheduled for the journey. Worse, instead of being taken to the international airport as they had all been promised, they were taken to Ojota Motor Park in Lagos, from where they boarded a bus to Katsina State. Departure date was March 28, 2014.
Journey through the valley of death
Sadiat says their itineraries were structured in such a way that they always arrived each resting point at night.
“This is to beat customs and immigration officials, as well as to ward off any prying eyes,” the young lady says.
Consequently, the traffickers took them through uncharted roads, and Sadiat narrates that three of the trafficked persons died on the way. The journey through the desert was arduous,” Sadiat narrates in Yoruba. “Sometimes, the vehicles were open back, quite small for us and our luggage. Two girls died when they fell off the vehicles at separate times, while another one succumbed to the harsh weather.”
Sadiat says from Katsina, one Tijani drove them through the desert to Niger Republic. They journeyed through various towns, she says, including Argadez, Bilma, Gao, Achegour, Dirkou and Arlit – in no particular order.
From the way Sadiat talks, the traffickers probably had no particular destination in mind for all the victims, as they actually sold off the boys when they reached some towns, allegedly to raise money for the transportation of the remaining members of the entourage. Finally, they reached Tripoli, the Libyan capital, where, Sadiat, says they were handed over to another auntie who operates a brothel.
She says in order to reach the three-bedroom apartment in which they were housed, you had to pass through four intimidating iron gates. And though there were just three bedrooms and a sitting room, 17 young ladies lived there and were made to supply sexual services to men who thronged the place in droves. The new auntie superintended the affairs.
Life as unwilling prostitute
If Sadiat thought she saw suffering while passing through the Sahara Desert, what she experienced next was a different ballgame she was not prepared for: the new auntie minced no words in telling the new arrivals that they’ve been recruited into international prostitution ring. Sadiat says she was surprised when she was told that she owed $35,000 which she must repay if she wanted her freedom. The only route to repayment, new auntie said, was prostitution.
Sadiat says her 16-year-old relation begged new auntie that she couldn’t be a prostitute because she had been warned by her parents that she must not consort with any man until she is 20. Surprisingly, Sadiat says, new auntie agreed, but swore that she would die as a house help somewhere else. Emboldened by this, Sadiat says she, too, asked new auntie to let her work as house help but auntie said she was too old for that and that she’s better as commercial sex worker.
She confesses that though she wasn’t a virgin, she couldn’t imagine working as a prostitute. So, she refused to entertain any man. Her recruiter didn’t take kindly to this, so she received the beating of her life, which led to a broken skull. The broken skull was stitched up by the new auntie, whom Sadiat later got to know was a nurse. That thought her a lesson by the way, and she soon settled down to work.
The more the clients, the better
Libya is a Muslim country and, Sadiat says, women hardly go out unaccompanied. Even at that, she says, on the few occasions they had to go out, they must be in overall Muslim women’s coverings, which effectively shielded their foreign identity. Sadiat says the way it works is this: the girls, attired in the skimpiest of dresses, took different postures in the living room, and the client made his choice as he examined the girls. He then took his choice into one of the rooms for approximately 30 minutes. There’s no limit to the number of men a girl could “entertain” in a day, Sadiat says. In fact, the more men a girl could sleep with, the better for her as far as new auntie was concerned.
Illegal abortions all the way
Sadiat discloses that the rate of mortality among the victims was high, especially due to the complications of illegal abortions. Asked if the victims were not allowed to use protection, she says the male clients didn’t even like to, in the first instance; and that it’s hard to come by condoms in Libya, being a Muslim country. Sadiat confesses that once new auntie realised that she was an auxiliary nurse, she doubled as an assistant and actually participated in terminating pregnancies for other girls. She says in order to prevent more than one pregnancy per annum per girl, pregnancies were never tampered with until they were seven or eight months old.
“When a girl became pregnant, she must inform auntie immediately, while she continued to service the clients. At seven or eight months, the baby would be birthed, and life continued for the victim if she ever survived the process,” Sadiat recalls.
Asked how they did it, she says she would insert forceps into the womb of the pregnant victim and break the amniotic sac.
“That way, the baby was deprived of protection and exposed to all sorts of infection. And since the mother continued to have sex, both mother and child were hardly in a winning situation. Some of the inmates met their death as a result,” Sadiat says; with prayers to God to forgive her for participating in criminal abortion.
Public Health Specialist and Consultant Paediatician, Dr. Rotimi Adesanya, has this to say about this unusual process:
“If the sac is broken, the amniotic fluid is drained before the baby is about to be delivered. Once this is done, utmost medical supervision is necessary under normal circumstances; otherwise, the baby becomes susceptible to serious forms of infections which will likely kill him. This is because the sac provides the baby what I call ‘cushion effect’, protection and also keeps the baby in normal condition called homeostasis. But if the water is dry as a result of breakage, the baby’s ability to turn in the womb and other regular activities will be reduced. The effect on the mother is as bad; as she is also exposed to the possibilities of very serious infections called chorioamnionitis – an inflammation of the foetal membranes due to bacterial infection. This infection can enter the mother’s bloodstream and result in her death. And where death doesn’t occur, it can damage the womb and the tubes.”
Adesanya says normally, if need be, abortion is performed before the baby is viable.
“Viable age in the United States is 20 weeks, 24 weeks in the United Kingdom and 28 weeks in Nigeria. Any baby above this age should not be harmed in any way. What you have described is purely killing a baby – a criminal act/abortion,” the paediatrician submits.
Great escape
Considering her frail frame, it’s doubtful if Sadiat could actually do as much client servicing as her handlers would prefer. She started making plans of escape. She says she became friendly with a Hausa customer who allowed her to use his cell phone to contact home. Things took a dramatic turn from then on.
Enters the Nigerian-Libyan
When Sadiat’s parents learnt from their daughter that she was actually working as a prostitute in Tripoli, they took the fight to the doorsteps of the cousin who had recruited her. The two families met, but all that the recruiter’s parents could do was to feign ignorance of their daughter’s activities, though Sadiat says the parents actually go about the neighbourhoods, recruiting underage girls whose parents are told would be working as house helps abroad.
Another of her clients turned out to also be of help. The man, a Ghanaian, linked her with one Mr. Suleiman (no surname provided) who allegedly works in Nigerian embassy in Tripoli. The embassy worker in turn linked her up with a Nigerian who has been in Libya for 35 years and is married to a Libyan woman. The Libyan-Nigerian, Mr. Razaq (surname withheld), spoke with this reporter on the phone. He says as a Nigerian-Libyan, he has access to public cemeteries and that he became curious when certain set of people approached him on a regular basis, asking to be helped to secure burial spaces in public cemeteries.
He says his curiosity gained the better part of him when those being brought for burial were mostly young Nigerian females. He soon discovered that they were victims of sex trafficking. Thinking he was being a good citizen, he says, he drew the attention of Nigerian embassy in Tripoli to the problem, but he claims that those who should help have been compromised.
Deflowered with candlesticks
Razak expresses shock concerning the mind-bending treatment these unfortunate victims of human trafficking are reportedly subjected to. He says many of the victims he helped to rescue were brought to Tripoli while still wearing their school uniforms, suggesting the possibility of kidnap. He says most of such school-girl victims are usually not up to 15 years of age. He says he suspects certain level of hypnotism of such victims, as the majority of them are hardly able to explain how they got to the North African country.
And as if to depict the blood-curdling activities that attend the treatment of these unfortunate victims of human trafficking, Razaq says their captors are forever in a hurry to make them ready for the sex market, and would do anything to achieve the same. Recounting some experiences, he says by the time a 10-year-old victim was rescued, she had had her hymen torn by being made to “sit” on an erect candlestick.
“That way, the girl was forcefully deflowered, but at a worse price than if it had been done by a male figure,” Razak laments.
He says most of the young ladies he had helped to rescue from Tripoli brothels were mostly Yoruba from Ogun State – Abeokuta, to be precise. He also claims that so terrible was the situation that a Libyan diplomat friend of his wondered aloud as to whether Nigeria was so impoverished to the point that all its young women must be sold to sexual slavery. “I had no answer for the man,” Razaq claims. Expressing fears for his life, Razaq says he had come very close to being assassinated by those who felt threatened by his activities. He, however, promises to do his utmost to help as many victims of human trafficking as possible.
Dr. Joy Ezeilo, a human rights lawyer, says in her capacity as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, especially women and children, she has noticed that in most countries she had travelled to, Nigerians were highly involved in this despicable trade both internationally and locally. She urges law enforcement agents to do more to increase public awareness about human trafficking, so as to save innocent people who are forced into the trade through promise of overseas job.
NAPTIP’s mandate
In recognition of the problem, the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and other related Matters, was inaugurated in July 2003, when the country passed the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Law Enforcement And Administration Act most commonly known as the “NAPTIP Act.”
The agency notes that human trafficking is a serious form of organised crime that involves the exploitation of people, saying the reasons for trafficking are complex, and involve push factors (the reasons that drive people to leave their homes to seek better opportunities in other places), and pull factors (the factors that attract a person to a certain destination point), and that facilitate exploitation.
Being the focal point for the fight against human trafficking and child labour and for the rehabilitation of the victims of trafficking in Nigeria, NAPTIP’s brief includes coordinating laws related to the trafficking of persons, enforcement of the NAPTIP Act, and leading, supervising, controlling and coordinating efforts for rehabilitation of trafficked persons. Section 52(b) of NAPTIP Act also provides that “The victim should receive compensation for damage suffered.”
It also recommends that “defendants or other third parties who bear responsibility for the trafficking crime should pay restitution to the victim such as the return of any property taken from the victim, payment of expenses related to the crime, payment for harm or other loss suffered.” When contacted, the spokesperson for the Ogun State Ministry of Women Affairs and Youth Development, Mr. Kehinde Balogun, confirms that the ministry works with NAPTIP and urges this reporter to persuade Sadiat to visit the ministry to access available help.
He also discloses that if the victim cooperates well enough, the ministry would provide legal services that would enable her to testify in court against her traffickers. Commendably though, Sadiat has been forthcoming with information about the people who trafficked her to Tripoli. Unlike other victims who are usually afraid of death when they remember all the oaths they’ve been subjected to, Sadiat couldn’t be bothered.
“They’ve cheated me,” she cries. “And they must pay for it. We were family friends and I didn’t know they were recruiting me for prostitution. They must not go scot-free,” she pleads.
She says she’s also not bothered by the oaths they made her to undergo, intimating that her pubic hair, finger and toe nails, as well as her underwear were collected from her and used in some voodoo ritual by her Tripoli handlers, with stern warning that she would die should she breach the oath. Since she returned from Tripoli on June 30 – five days after her young cousin was also ferried out of the Tripoli house of bondage – she has been battling one form of illness or the other. Asked if she had undergone screenings for pregnancy and HIV, she says she has, in fact, undergone two HIV tests so far and they’ve been negative; while she was about to take the third test as at the time of this interview. She says she isn’t pregnant either.
“The terrible weather we were exposed to as we travelled through the desert, the cold, heat, dust and the fact that we didn’t have decent meals throughout the nearly one month of dangerous travels contributed to this ill health,” Sadiat explains. Worse still is the fact that the family lacks the kind of money that her condition requires if she must obtain proper care. Balogun says while he could not say categorically that the ministry would foot any bill, the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Youth Development could use her initiative to determine what to do when Sadiat shows up.
This reporter has passed the information to her.
Cowardly traffickers
This reporter obtained the phone numbers of the three people that allegedly facilitated Sadiat’s life-altering trip; and when they were contacted, the reactions were not altogether unexpected. We dialed a mobile phone number – 080980069xx – said to belong to the father of the female cousin who recruited her, a man who goes by the alias Obalolerue (the king owns his slave). He denies being a part of the trafficking.
“As you’re talking to me, I’m in the mosque. I swear that I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Obalolerue responds.
Asked if Sadiat’s parents hadn’t come to accuse him of helping to traffic their daughter for prostitution in Tripoli, he says they have, and that when he asked his daughter, the latter denied the accusation.
“What I know is that they take people overseas for job. I don’t know what they do there. And my daughter has denied trafficking people for prostitution. I’m a good person….” Obalolerue says.
The cousin who is at the centre of the dirty job, and who goes by the name Maryam or Mama Zainab, whose GSM number is 081038098xx, says she is unaware of any such activity.
“Are you saying you have not been recruiting your young neighbours for onward transfer abroad for commercial sex work?” this reporter asks. She denies being involved in any such thing.
Her mom picked her call but refused to talk once she sensed that the voice on the other end was unfamiliar. Her phone number is 081867683xx.
