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Seventy-eight of the 150 young Nigerian women trafficked to Cote d’Ivoire for sex slavery at the wee hours of Sunday arrived in Lagos.

Their return home aboard Air Peace flight was scheduled for 3:30 pm on Saturday, but that didn’t happen until past 11 pm following some diplomatic issues with the Ivorian authorities in Abidjan.

Those who returned comprised 75 females between the ages of 13 and 30, three babies, and two adult males, with the majority of them looking malnourished and battered, indicative of the horror they had been through.

About four of them, mostly the underage ones, were pregnant

The Nation reports that four of the returnees, including those under 14 years, were pregnant, just as Air Peace pledged to foot the medical bills of all 150 victims at the Duchess Hospital in Ikeja.

On the ground to receive the victims were the Director General, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Binta Adamu Bello; the Chief Executive of Air Peace, Allen Onyema; Social media activist, Martins Otse alias VeryDarkMan; the President of the Nigerian Community in Cote D’Ivoire, Michael Emeka Onwuchelu and representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Regina Ocheni.

NAPTIP on the trail of other kingpins

Addressing reporters at 12:20 am, at the arrival section of the new Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), NAPTIP’s DG said all available means and strategies would be deployed to ensure the arrest and prosecution of those behind the atrocious crime.

She said two of the major masterminds had been apprehended in a mansion in Abuja with two victims rescued from them, adding that the agency was already working with relevant partners to arrest others involved in the crime.

She commended Air Peace for flying the victims back free of charge and also undertaking to foot their medical expenses, praising all NAPTIP’s partners for their patriotic contributions towards ensuring the successful return of the victims.

Bello said: “This is a momentous occasion, a day that marks not only the safe return of our beloved daughters, but also a reaffirmation of our unwavering commitment to the fight against human trafficking.

“To the young women and girls who have just returned, we say welcome home. You were taken far from the safety and dignity you deserve, but today, you are back on Nigerian soil, and you are not alone; this country stands with you.

“And to those who have perpetrated this evil, let today be a reminder that Nigeria will never relent in pursuing justice. We have also apprehended some of those responsible for this heinous trade, and they will face the full force of the law.

“Let me assure every Nigerian that NAPTIP remains ever committed, ever vigilant, and ever determined to end human trafficking. We will continue to work tirelessly to combat human trafficking, prosecute the traffickers, and protect and rehabilitate the victims. This is our sole duty.”

The DG said that after screening and profiling, some of the victims who wish to remain in the shelter would be taken through skills acquisition training and given starter packs at the end of the exercise to make them self-reliant.

A message of hope, patriotism

Also speaking, Chief Allen Onyema said Air Peace undertook to bring them back home with dignity to instil patriotism in them.

He condemned the dehumanising treatment the girls received at the hands of their traffickers, stressing that no human being should be stripped of their basic dignity in that manner.

Onyema, who also confirmed that the airline lost over N400m as a result of the delays experienced in Abidjan, which kept the flight on the ground the entire day, however, said it was more important to bring back the young Nigerians trapped in sex slavery in that country.

Onyema said, “To me, it is very natural to do something like this. Like I told them inside the aircraft when they landed, I don’t want them to look down on themselves. I want them to believe that the country is very responsive to their needs, despite whatever difficulties they might have faced at any point in time.

“This is not for show. It’s all about instilling patriotism in them. To make them feel they belong to their nation, to make them feel wanted and to make them feel important. No one should look down on anybody, and they shouldn’t look down on themselves.

“What happened to these young girls is very atrocious and must be condemned by everyone under the sun. Some of them are 13 years old and they’ve gone into sex slavery. It is unacceptable.

“That’s why I decided to go and bring them. I didn’t wait for the government. We must not wait for the government for everything. We at Air Peace will continue to do what we believe is right to instill in Nigerians that sense of belonging and pride in their country.

“But I must use this opportunity to thank the VeryDarkMan because he was the one who brought this issue to the limelight. He is the hero of this particular night because if he had not spoken, maybe we would not have known, and NAPTIP may not have had this information to work with.

“I mean, we have to instill in our youth that sense of belonging, that sense of patriotism, that sense of nationalism. That is why I preach broad nationalism in Nigeria as against ethnic and religious nationalism.

“What we need is to fight for each other, not against each other. We do not need to stigmatise each other. Nigeria is already stigmatised worldwide, we do not need to stigmatise ourselves along ethnic lines or religious lines.”

How delays cost Air Peace N400m

On the implications of the unexpected delays encountered at Abidjan on his business, Onyema admitted that the airline lost over N400m as a result of the diplomatic hitch.

“Well, the airline has lost about N400 million today. That is a fact. When we got into Côte d’Ivoire, we kept to the time, but a lot of diplomatic issues.

“The fault was not ours nor that of the Nigerian government. Our plane was there, but you know the issues around the West Coast. It wasn’t easy. We’ve been there since morning till midnight.

“So over 400 million Naira lost, but it’s not about money. There’s no amount of money that you can equate to life.

“The most important thing is that we brought them back alive. We want to integrate them into society, and let me tell you this, it’s not just about bringing them back.

“I’ve already enrolled all of them at the Duchess Hospital. The Duchess Hospital has been waiting since morning to commence screening and treatment on all 150 of them. They also spoke to the DG of NAPTIP.

“Air Peace is funding their treatment because you can see some of them are pregnant. We need to test some of them for HIV because you don’t want to reintegrate them, and the population will be affected by whatever they have.

“You need to save their own lives, too. We chose the Duchess because that is the hospital I use myself, and I don’t look down on anyone. They also deserve the best.

“Today we have about 78. They are going to Duchess Hospital in the morning because the hospital has to close at night. But tomorrow morning, all of them will be there to begin their screening. Air Peace will bear the brunt of the treatment, not just the tests, before we can release them into society.

“The most important reason we are doing this is to make them understand humanity. Because they’ve been made to feel as if they’re subhuman by the kind of treatment they underwent in Côte d’Ivoire. So we need to do everything possible to give them the best,” he added.

Asked the reason for the delays in Abidjan, Ambassador Ocheni said there were minor hitches, blaming these hitches for none non-return of all 150 girls expected.

“There were minor hitches which the mission and other members of the team had to take care of. Those who didn’t come back are still there. The mission will continue to work to see that we bring them.

“At the point of getting to the airport, some of the victims had a change of mind and decided to stay back. The mission is still working to ensure they are brought back. The Ivorian government and agencies are in collaboration. It is their agency that went round to do this raid and handed over to the foreign mission,” she claimed.

Nigerians in Côte d’Ivoire raise alarm

However, her position contradicted that of the Nigerian Community in Côte d’Ivoire, which insisted it was their Rapid Response Team that went into the forests where gold is being mined to rescue the girls.

President of the Community, Michael Emeka Onwuchekwa, told reporters that many Nigerian girls have been buried in that country after dying in the hands of their traffickers.

He appealed to the federal government to take steps to prevent the trafficking of minors to gold mining countries in West Africa, listing Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana as the hotbeds.

He revealed that there was a camp in Côte d’Ivoire where there were more than 200 Nigerian girls, especially minors trafficked for prostitution, adding that they were mistakenly sold to farmers mining gold, and it was usually a herculean task to rescue them from those farmers.

Onwuchekwa said since his election as President of the union, over 1,550 young girls have been rescued and returned home, emphasising the need for NAPTIP to debrief the victims calmly to get vital information that would assist them in preventing the trafficking of more minors.

“I have sent this message to the appropriate authority that Nigerians, mostly minors, are trapped in the Côte d’Ivoire forest where they were trafficked. They are in the forest where they are mining gold. The federal government of Nigeria needs to pay serious attention because some of these girls die there. We know how many Nigerian girls we have buried over there because no one wanted to locate their families. Some of them also die in the process through the farmers.

“They are being married/sold to farmers over there, and there is nothing you can do to get them out. I want the government to pay serious attention to this menace facing our young girls. When you look at them, you see that most of them were lied to…

“I just want the government, especially NAPTIP, to come to the level of these young girls, investigate properly to know how the criminals operate. They need to know how those trafficking these girls to Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana are operating. These are the areas where you will see young Nigerian girls in thousands. “There is a camp where you will get over 200 Nigerian girls, and a greater number of them are minors. We rescued over 150 girls, but we were overpowered by hoodlums in the ghetto to release some of these girls. It was the Rapid Response Team of the Nigerian Community in Côte d’Ivoire that moved in to rescue these girls from where they were.

“To get some of them, the team had to go like 50kms to 100kms kilometres into the bush on motorcycles…” he said.

Otse called on the authorities in charge to take charge of the country’s porous borders, alleging that over 500 young girls are moved across the borders daily by traffickers.

He stressed that the authorities must not only focus on impounding smuggled rice but also take steps to prevent the trafficking of underage children for sexual and labour exploitation.

Victims recount ordeals

Some of the victims relived how they were forced to sleep with multiple men and remit the proceeds to their masters, while others who refused were beaten with nails-infested planks.

Some of them alleged they were also introduced to drugs, as cheap substances were sold all around them.

One of the victims (name withheld) said she may not be able to recover from the trauma experienced as a result of the exploitation she faced in the French countryside.

She said, “I thank God that I am alive today. I saw hell in Abidjan, and I may not be able to forget the suffering and pain I went through forever. Human life is worth nothing in the hands of those madams over there. I thank the Director General of NAPTIP, who personally came to the airport to receive us.

“She spoke and encouraged us. Since that time she spoke to us inside the aircraft before we came out, my spirit is happy again. I thank the Owner of Air Peace also. May God continue to bless them all,” she said.

Love, 14, said she spent one year in the French countryside, adding that she was told she would go and do domestic servitude.

According to her, it took them over a week by road to arrive Ivory Coast, adding that she was with her friend, Abo.

She said the dehumanising treatments were meted out by their Nigerian bosses, who, instead of giving them the jobs they were promised, forced them into prostitution and would beat anyone who refused into submission.

“They took us to a place that was even better than our village. It was a bush area, and they collected our phones and said we had to start doing prostitution. My patron said we should look around, we will see other lifelong guests and cheap drugs. That we should get to work.

“That was how my suffering started. I refused. I said I will not do it. Because that was not what we were meant to do. She said she does not care what her sister told me before I came to meet her in Ivory Coast.

“That since I have come, I will do what she wants me to do. I said okay. Each night, they will ask us to dress half-naked and go and look for men who will sleep with us and give us money.

“I will be running up and down, hiding from one spot to another. At the end of the day, when the market closes, she will be calling them.

“Each of the patrons will call her girls. How much do you work today? Everybody will give an account, and they will write in the books.

“When it got to my turn, I told her, Ma, I did not work today. She slapped me and three other girls who did not bring money to her mercilessly.

“She said since I am an obstacle, she will bring a special thing for me, and she did it. She brought planks filled with nails.

“Anyone who did not work received a beating from that plank. That is what she has been doing to scare us into doing what she wants.

“She beat me brutally. She pulled my leg from the root, and I was bleeding. She said I must give her money. The other girls with me got scared and started doing prostitution to give her money. But I met a Yoruba girl who rescued me from her.”