24 Nigerian girls victims of sexual violence rescued in Senegal

Combined officers from the Nigerian Embassy and a Senegal-based NGO, during a nighttime operation, rescued 24 Nigerian girls who had been subjected to sexual exploitation in the Tamacunda and Kédougou regions of Senegal .

Salihu Abubakar, Nigeria's acting ambassador to Dakar, Senegal, revealed this on Sunday.

According to him, the girls, mostly minors, aged 11 to 24, are victims of trafficking to Senegal via Cotonou, in the Republic of Benin, via the Malian border, for the purpose of sexual exploitation in the regions of Tamacunda and Kédougou.

“These girls and many others are being trafficked to Senegal, via Cotonou, the Republic of Benin, via Mali to the Senegalese border, for the purpose of prostitution,” the ambassador said.

Mr. Abubakar said preliminary investigation revealed that most of the school dropouts were girls from Edo and Delta, adding that a few were from Imo and Abia, while two others were from Plateau.

However, he said 24 and 22 of them had already been repatriated weeks ago, while the other two ladies were repatriated to Nigeria on Saturday and landed safely in Nigeria.

The diplomat could not immediately provide details on the victims' health conditions and other information regarding the time they spent undergoing sexual exploitation in Senegal.

The envoy said the successful repatriation of the girls to Nigeria was a clear indication of strengthening international cooperation in the fight against human trafficking between the embassy and the Senegalese NGO “Free the Slaves” (La Lumière en French).

“Our main objective and number one priority is to discourage the trafficking of our Nigerian girls to any part of the world for the purpose of prostitution in any form,” Mr. Abubakar said.

(NOPE)