Nigerian ladies rescued from prostitution syndicate’s den in Burkina Faso
By CHRIS ANUCHA and MATTHEW DIKE
Thursday, February 2, 2006

The war against trafficking in persons recorded a breakthrough recently as nine girls, who were billed to travel to Europe for prostitution are now in the custody of Nigeria Immigration Service at Zone ‘A’ headquarters, Alagbon, Lagos.

Among the victims were two cousins, Rita and Lovina from Edo State. They were abandoned in the desert by a suspected trafficker, whose name was simply given as Tony, for failing to heed his advice to engage in the inglorious trade.

Tony was said to have promised to take Rita and Lovina to Germany, to meet their elder sister who resides in that country, but the journey ended up in Burkina Faso where he told them they were brought to the country for prostitution.

Lovina said:"When we got to Burkina Faso, he dropped us and we asked him where our sister was, but he told us that we couldn’t see our sister now.

"We told him to take us back home, but he refused. He asked us to start prostitution but we refused. He later took us to the desert and abandoned us there."

The victims were wandering in the desert when a German rescued them and handed them over to the Nigerian Embassy official in Burkina Faso, who brought them to the Seme control post of the Nigeria Immigration Service on January 20.

Other victims are Ruth Obuseh, (20) Onome (15) Success (22), Christiana (18), Etsere (18), Maurine (25) and Ngozi (26).

Giving insight into how the Nigeria Immigration Service botched the plans of other human traffickers, the Assistant Comptroller General (ACG) in Charge of Zone ‘A’, Lagos, Mr. Samuel Eluwa, said: "Six victims were arrested in company with an Edo-born driver, Mr. Peter Emetor, at a nearby church along Seme border, by Immigration officers, following a tip-off from one of the villagers.

Ruth, Onome, Success, Christiana, Etsere and Maurine who hail from Delta State, according to Eluwa, were promised job opportunities in Cotonou by one Sunday who is now at large.
The trafficker, who procured passports for the victims, paid for their fares to Cotonou hoping to join them later.

The driver, Peter Emetor, who operates at the Mile 2 park, had already arrived safely at an agreed point and was waiting to hand over the victims before the bubble bursts.
The ACG explained that the driver had confirmed knowing the traffickers.
Eluwa disclosed that another victim, Ngozi, who held a Nigerian standard passport number A306218 was repatriated from Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam on January 24, for not being in possession of valid travel documents.

Though, Ngozi had a certificate of indigeneship of Abia State, she hails from Benin City, Edo State.
It was also discovered that she came to Lagos in October 2005 and stayed in a hotel with one Mr. James, the human trafficker, for three months, as he arranged and facilitated her journey to Holland.
Ngozi claimed that James saw her off to the boarding gate of the aircraft, and collected the passport only to leave her with a duplicate copy and certificate of indigeneship of Abia State.

"In view of this, the plight and harrowing experience of these victims need to be extensively highlighted by the media to enable the Nigeria public to be fully aware of the dangers of trafficking in persons," Eluwa said.

He added that the Comptroller General of Nigeria Immigration Service, Mr. Chukwura Udeh was committed to making all entry/exit points(air, land and sea) unattractive to human traffickers and their victims.

According to him, adequate surveillance activities have been put in place to identify travellers without genuine intentions and travel documents. He said: "Appropriate measures as prescribed by the country’s immigration laws and regulation would be fully enforced."

Meanwhile, all the victims have been handed over to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking In Persons and other Related Matter (NAPTIP).