24 Nigerian victims of sexual violence rescued in Senegal

Officials from the Nigerian embassy and an NGO based in Senegal, during a nighttime operation, rescued 24 young Nigerian girls subjected to sexual exploitation in the Tamaccounda and Kédougou regions of Senegal.

Dr. Salihu Abubakar, Acting Ambassador of the Nigerian Embassy in Dakar, Senegal, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Dakar on Sunday.

According to him, the girls, mostly minors, aged 11, 13 and 24, are victims of trafficking to Senegal, via Cotonou, Republic of Benin, via Mali to the Senegal border for 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 purposes of prostitution,” the diplomat said.

Abubakar said preliminary investigation revealed that most of the girls, who had dropped out of school, were from Edo and Delta, adding that a few of them were from Imo and Abia while that two others came from the Plateau.

He, however, said that out of the 24, 22 had already been repatriated weeks ago, while the other two ladies were repatriated to Nigeria on Saturday and landed in Nigeria safely.

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,” Abubakar said. (NOPE)