I Went Into Human Trafficking Because Government Ignored Me When I Was Also A Victim- Lady

Udoka Enohuean (not real names) is a self-confessed human
trafficking survivor. According to her, in a 
bid to get a lucrative job and make life meaningful for her family, she ran
into trouble as she became a prostitute in Burkina Faso. Meanwhile,  the job did not give her the money she craved
for.

The native of Ishan, Edo State said: “I was 18 years old
when a business woman in our community took 
some ladies and I  to Burkina
Faso. The initial deal was that she will take us to Senegal and then to Europe.
But, surprisingly, she took us to Burkina Faso and she was nowhere to be found
the following morning we arrived there. Unknown to us, she had sold us to
a  man”, She told her story to Sunday
Vanguard during the Lord’s Chosen Charismatic Church yearly programme, tagged,
‘Mgbidi 2015?.”

“Immediately, our heads, armpit, private parts were shaved
and the hair used to initiate us into some cult. So horrifying, some of the
girls went mad during the initiation. You could be asked to visit a  burial ground late in the night for the
ritual or sleep with a  dead body. Later,
we  lived in a hotel where we
operated  as prostitutes and  what we earned used to pay this man every
day. Everything turned  gloomy for me. I
found myself in thick darkness of prostitution that I could not deliver myself
from. It was a horrible situation,”the victim said.

“We  had a booklet
each  where we recorded our returns
everyday and once the money for which we were sold to the man was paid, which
could  be 
paid within five to nine months, freedom will be organised for such a
person.

“My boss took  us to a
native doctor who gave us some charm to protect us from being arrested by law
enforcement agents, With the aid of the charm, we could  manipulate men to give us more cash after
sex.

“Within months, I completed 
my payment but I was tired of such a life and I told my boss  I wanted 
to go back home. But  she refused.
So  I ran to the community leader for
help. I also went to the Nigerian embassy in Burkinan Faso  but no one listened to me. Rather, the
government officials of that country arrested me and took me to  Abuja where I was detained with criminals for
three months in a police station. I was later paraded as a criminal.”

Revenge mission

“After my release, I 
was determined to take thousands of Nigerian girls to Burkina Faso.
I  became a girl-trafficker. I traveled
to my village, dressing gorgeously and 
flaunting money to young girls.  I
was able to take some girls to Burkina Faso. I did this in annoyance because
when I needed help, government officials refused to help me because the people
involved in child-trafficking  knew many
security agents and they could bribe their way out. I realized if one could
join the group, it was easy to take girls out of the country.

‘Traffickers take advantage of porous border’

“The Seme border was 
a no-go area for us because security personnel there were  very strict, but we always bribed our way
through the Saki border. And there was no need for international passport to
cross the border at the Saki border. An identity card was enough, especially if
it was accompanied by a few Naira notes and we always had a smooth journey.
Most of the officers there knew  we were
involved in human trafficking”.

Cry to government

Enohuean,  now mother
of five children, called on the Federal Government to tackle youth unemployment
from further being trafficked  abroad for
prostitution, adding that many of the 
girls become victims because of their quest for employment and  better life outside the country. “An
unemployed hand is  a  prey for traffickers. State and federal
governments should please set up a  body
to look into the cases of those 
trafficked abroad, especially for prostitution, with a view to helping
them.  We have hundreds of  our girls who are tired of the business of
prostitution abroad  but   now have nowhere to turn to”, she said.

Source