Two Nigerian girls escape from human trafficking den in Ghana, 30 others in captivity

Barely a week after 11 Nigerian girls were illegally transported to Ghana, two more have been rescued from organized human trafficking in the country, following an escape attempt that alerted authorities.

The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) confirmed this on Tuesday, revealing that the two girls whose rescue operation was facilitated by Chief Calistus, Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organization (NIDO) in Ghana , are now in police custody…

The girls, who were both previously residing in Lagos, were lured to Ghana under the guise of a fake job opportunity – a common lure for traffickers and, upon arrival, were forced into prostitution.

“I was at home one afternoon when a friend of mine came to tell me that there were opportunities in Ghana,” said one of the girls who chose to remain anonymous.

“Given the current situation in Nigeria, I want to earn money because we have a family to feed, so we decided to come because they told us we were going to work at the supermarket. When we arrived here, we saw that it was prostitution.

The young girl in particular, the daughter of a pastor in Nigeria, resisted, saying it went against her faith and the integrity of their family.

This provoked the culprits who used fetishistic means to coerce them.

“We said we would leave before things got worse, but they had to cut our hair and made a video of us naked, saying if we tried to flee they would drive us crazy or they would post our naked video on the Internet.

“They will make us dress half naked. We eat from 6 p.m. until 6 p.m. the next day,” she said through tears.

When asked about the crossing to Ghana, the girls confirmed that they did not have passports but had not been questioned by the Ghanaian police or immigration authorities.

“I think they have a connection, I can’t explain it. I just know we landed here.

“When we got to Mile 12, they crossed us on the water. After crossing the water, they call people who will take us to a bus stop. »

They identified the conveyor as “Oga Sunny” who handed them over to a certain “Miss Mary” and “Nicki” upon their arrival in Ghana.

“When we arrived home the first day we arrived, we didn't go to the room. She even made us swear by the Bible,” the girl said.

According to her, she would have fled sooner without the occult threats. Finally, after weeks of observing the nearby church, she found the courage.

“What happened was that during the service at the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) yesterday, she ran towards the church and while she was there she narrated her ordeal and the how she was brought to Ghana about two months ago by a lady who now lives in Nigeria,” Calistus recalled.

“When they brought them here, she told them she had a supermarket where they would take her to work, while they paid her salary without knowing that they had brought them here to prostitute themselves.”

In Ghana, where the minimum wage has increased to GHC 18.15 per day and GHC 562.65 (N59,018) per month, the majority of sales representatives – the job commonly offered to victims of trafficking – earn just GHC 20 , which could increase. at GHC31 ​​daily after 5 years of work experience, according to Africapay.org/Ghana, which monitors salaries in Ghana alongside the International Wage Network.

In the country, this salary may be considered below what is sustainable, but its unemployment rate of 3.60 percent still seems more attractive than Nigeria's 5 percent, where the minimum wage of 30 000 Naira has caused recent national conflicts.

“They told her that if she wanted to go back, she had to pay them N1.5 million,” Calistus said.

“She told them she didn't have the money and asked them to give her the opportunity to call the parents. They refused, they seized their phones and communications, locked them up and made them swear that they cannot, that they must not run away and that if they run away they will go crazy. They made them naked, took photos of their nudity and threatened to put them on the Internet in case they tried to escape,” he said.

Before their escape, the traffickers had put them on the street where they worked for almost 2 months, most of the time without food.

When asked how she finally found the courage, she replied: “Because I believe that God can't do anything. »

Due to his proximity to the church, Caliste was immediately alerted to the situation and was quick to act.

“When I arrived at the apartment the intention was to catch the culprit, the main person but unfortunately she wasn't there so we discovered the other lady. [victim] to my right who was crying there too. She even confirmed that she hadn't eaten since the morning. If you don't prostitute yourself, they starve you, beat you, and do everything in their power to subjugate you and make sure you fall into slavery.

The girls confirmed that there were more than 30 people captive in the apartment where they were being held hostage. Calistus assured that the girls would contribute to the police investigation to apprehend the culprits.

He called on Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairman of NIDCOM, to liaise with the Lagos State government and “restore the lives of these children and make them what God wants them to be.”

“We have made ourselves available to join the Federal Republic of Nigeria to ensure that the lives of our children are not wasted on the West Coast. This is a mission that Nigerians in Ghana have chosen to do and we will fight this battle until we achieve victory.

Dabiri-Erewa, in an official statement, assured that arrangements would be made to repatriate them to Nigeria and hand them over to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).