Nigerian Embassy and NGO rescue 24 girls trafficked for prostitution in Senegal

The Nigerian Embassy in Senegal, in collaboration with a Dakar-based non-governmental organization, “La Lumière”, which translates to “Free the Slaves” in English, rescued 24 Nigerian girls trafficked to the country for of prostitution.

The Acting Ambassador to Senegal, Salihu Abubakar, who disclosed this at a press conference in Dakar on Sunday, said joint agents of the Nigerian Embassy and the NGO rescued the girls who had been subjected to sexual exploitation in the regions of Tamacunda and Kédougou, in this West African country. .

According to Abubakar, most of the girls are minors, aged 11, 13 and 24, and were trafficked to Senegal, via Cotonou, in the Republic of Benin, via the Mali-Senegal border, for of sexual exploitation.

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

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The envoy said preliminary investigations revealed that most of the girls who dropped out of school are from Edo and Delta states, a few of them from Imo and Abia states while two others are from Plateau State.

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.

“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.

Abubakar added that 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.

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