With the increase in human trafficking and kidnapping, more Nigerians are sharing their encounter with traffickers, and what they had to endure. Two young Nigerians who were rescued from prostitution, have shared their experience
According to Encomium Weekly, two young girls, 25-year-old Franka Akhimen and 23-year-old Ehinon Onofua, were lucky to have escaped from a wild and dangerous life on the streets.
The young ladies had been approached by an unidentified, suspected female trafficker at Ekpoma, Edo state, and offered work in a restaurant in Ivory Coast. They had ended up on the streets of Togo, where they were made to work as prostitutes, and were to remit the sum of 800,00 Cefas, to the lady, identified as ‘Madam Excellent’.
They shared the story of how they were deceived and how they learnt their lessons the hard way. Here’s what they had to say below: When asked how they ended up in Togo for prostitution, here’s what they had to say: “F It was in Epkoma in Edo state where I met one lady…
I was actually going to church when I met her and she approached me and said she was looking for girls that can work in her restaurant in Ivory Coast. So, when I got home I told Ehinon and we arranged to meet her and she told us what the plan was and when we will be leaving Nigeria for Ivory Coast.
So, on February 2, we left Edo for Lagos, had a stop at Mile 2, and she told us that was where the car that will take us to Ivory Coast will pick us. So, at exactly 9.30pm, the car came for us and we all boarded that evening. When we got to Togo, I noticed that we were not going to proceed with our journey, so I asked the woman why are we here, you said we were going to Ivory Coast not Togo, and she told me to keep quiet, that whatever she asked me to do I should just do it without complaining. Later, she went out to buy clothes and came back with some skimpy and short dresses and gave them to us to wear.
I asked why such dresses, because they don’t look like clothes that are worn by a waitress or a person selling food. Again she told me to keep quiet and just do whatever she asked me to do, adding that we were brought to Togo for prostitution and in return we get to pay her 800,000 cefas each.
So, I told my sister, we can’t do this kind of job, we have to find a way to escape from her than to stay here. So, we left without even carrying our bags in order not to arouse any suspicion of us running away. And as we were trying to escape, we met a guy, after listening to our story, he told us he doesn’t know anybody in Togo, because he is from Ghana and can help us get there so that we can get the help we needed.
When we got to Ghana, he took us to Christ Embassy Church where we met with two guys and one of them gave us some money which is worth like N700,000 each and we left with the guy that brought us from Togo to lodge in a hotel, because it was getting late and there was nowhere to sleep. He, however, promised us that in the morning he will take us to some pastors so they can help us with transport fare back to Nigeria.
But to our surprise in the morning while I was taking my bath, the guy took off with the money we were given at the Christ Embassy Church. So, we approached the manager of the hotel and told him our predicament, and he called a taxi, paid the driver and asked him to take us to the Nigerian Embassy and also gave us some money.
But unfortunately, when we got to the embassy we were told that there was no money to give to us to return to Nigeria, but God so good one of the workers there, asked us to come with him to his house since it was on a Friday and we had no where to stay, but told us that if the embassy does not help us by Monday, he won’t take us back to his house and we have to find help somewhere else…” When asked if the man helping them tried to take advantage of them, here’s what they had to say:
“Franca: Not at all, he really took care of us and only God can repay him for his kindness. And when we got to the embassy on Monday, there was still no hope for us until we met Mr. Moses Owaro, President of the All Nigerian Community Ghana, who took us back to the embassy with a letter explaining our situation to them, and still no help was forth coming due to financial constrain, and eventually had to fund our trip back to Nigeria with the help of Chief Christopher Obareki, a member of the board of trustees of ANC-GH with the sum of 800ghc to buy our tickets back to Lagos and also gave us N6,000 for our trip from Lagos to Edo state.”
When asked if their family knew they were travelling with the unknown lady, here’s what they said: “Ehinon: Hmmmm, we didn’t tell our parents because we wanted to surprise them by going to Ivory Coast to work and come back home with lots of money to help us start our businesses, because we just finished learning fashion and design, so we were hoping when we make money, we can come back to Nigeria and buy sewing machines and open our own place and that was a big mistake on our part. But Mr Moses Owaro spoke with my brother in Nigeria to explain the situation of things. So, currently our families are aware that we are in Ghana and will be returning home soon.” When asked how they were able to evade border security, they had this to say: “Ehinon: Anytime we got to the boarder, we were told to come down from the car and cross over to the other side on foot. And what the woman kept telling the immigration officers and other security personnel was that we were going to the next country to buy goods to sell. They told us not to show any sign of fear or fidget in front of the officers.” When asked how they felt upon realizing they were being tricked into prostitution, they had this to say: Franca: We felt bad, and we just wanted to leave that place even when we had no place to go, rather than sleeping with different men while she takes all the money. When asked to advice other young girls who may be looking to ‘get rich quick’, here’s what they said: “Ehinon: My advice is that, if anybody approaches them and promises to take them somewhere for greener pastures, they should not go, find out if indeed its legitimate. Please confirm before you travel with any stranger that offers you job in foreign land, please don’t go, especially the girls. I’m appealing to you, because you will end up in prostitution and that was the mistake we made. We need to be patient, though there can be delay in reaching our goals but with God it will surely happen. “Franca: You know it is not everybody that tells their parents their plans, especially when it is this kind of travel. They should please not hide anything from their parents. The president of the All Nigerian Community-Ghana, Moses Owaro reportedly advised parents and guardians to be more careful and be on the lookout for strangers who would offer to take their children abroad for ‘greener pastures’. He also advised security personnel to be extra careful and observant, especially at entry points, like the airport and the border, to be able to spot when young girls are being smuggled out. He also said the All Nigerian Community-Ghana was partnering with Ghana Immigration service and other security agencies, to mount posts at points of entry into Ghana, in order to gather the necessary information about Nigerians entering into Ghana, and their reason for coming.
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