Almost half of identified human trafficking cases began with a family member’s or loved one’s involvement, says the International Organization for Migration (IOM) – a United Nations migration agency. Nigerian investigative journalist TOBORE OVUORIE, motivated by years of research into irregular migration such as trafficking of women, children and youths in her country as well as the initial loss of a friend and subsequently many others, decides to dig deeper in the multi-billion-dollar criminal enterprise often involving family members or close associates of affected persons. Travelling around Nigeria, in this three-part series, she documents rape experiences, beatings, bruises, abductions, embassy officials, police and other security agencies’ aiding and abetting the criminal enterprise, murder and deaths.

Here are her findings.

THE GENESIS

2015

The youngsters – over 25 of them – had left Agadez chatty after spending four days there and were so happy that the journey to seeking greener pastures had begun. They were super excited that the first check point was around the corner; an indication of completely leaving their frustrations behind in Nigeria and getting closer to making big bucks in Europe.

Boom!

Then, they heard a very loud noise. Their hearts started pumping so fast. Loudly too and not in unison. Their eyes popped out of the sockets housing them; hunting for the source of the noise.

It was a corpse. Few minutes old. A young man.

Few minutes before the sad occurrence, he was like them. Hanging onto a stick at the back of a Hilux truck on his way to Libya but to make a stopover at Qatroun too. He fell from the truck and died immediately. The driver of the Hilux from which he fell, continued as if legions of demons were in hot pursuit of the truck. Stopping, even in such situation, is against the unwritten rules on that route.

The youngsters arrived at the first checkpoint all baptized with fear and sorrow. They didn’t believe what they had witnessed and the callousness of the driver from which the young man’s life was cut short. They were never told people fall off trucks on the journey and did not expect to see corpses. All efforts to cheer themselves failed woefully.

All very young Nigerians, crammed into the truck like sardines in a can, the driver made the ladies to sit beside him, while males sat at the back – an open space – but held onto sticks to support themselves.

A salad of fear, anxiety, panic, sorrow and ‘what-next?’ overshadowed them. There was deafening silence, too. They all became moodier for every fresh corpse, skeleton and dried bone they saw. These were countless.

When almost at Qatroun, heavily armed rebels launched attacks on them. The driver moved the truck as if he was in sport car on a racing track. He then hid the youngsters.

Though drenched in fear, not a single person changed his or her mind about continuing with the trip. They kept going and spent four days in the desert amidst vast land filled with sand.

HOPE YAKUB: OF GREENER PASTURES AND RISKY JOURNEYS

My eyes locked with Hopes’ and sitting opposite her in the dead of the night, sometimes in the third week of March 2020, I painted images in my mind of the horrors she was narrating to me.

Hope was one of the over 25 young Nigerians sitting in the truck on the trip to Qatroun but Libya was her final destination. She was not lucky to get a seat beside the driver so had to sit at the back of the truck and joined the males in holding onto a stick to support herself from falling off the truck.

She never bargained for the horrors she witnessed alongside the youngsters, although she knew before departing Nigeria that Libya was the destination and it was by road too.

Her reason for travelling by road to Libya? “Every youth wants to seek greener pasture; so, that is what prompted me to go to Libya to help myself and my family,” she told me, believing she was not trafficked.

It was 2015. Her desire for greener pasture overseas was an open secret. Ozzy, a friend, came to the rescue by introducing Hope to her sister who lived in Libya. The lines seemed to be falling in pleasant places for Hope. Ozzy’s sister offered an all-expense paid trip to Libya!

She left Nigeria almost immediately.

She spent four days in Agadez and from there the Hilux truck came to convey her and the other young Nigerians to Qatroun, in Libya.

I was almost asking her ‘what yeye greener pasture were you looking for by taking part in this kain horror film?’ The journalistic part of me successfully took control.

Minutes birthed hours, then days with Hope and the other youngsters waking and sleeping on the deserted dusty road from Qatroun to Sabha. New friends were made. New alliances formed. Many of them were heading to Italy to become nurses. They had been told by their sponsors that nursing jobs awaited them already because Italy was in dire need of nurses. Some of the youngsters, like Hope, would end their trip at Libya. They had been told by their sponsors that life is easier in Libya than in Nigeria and with numerous money-spinning jobs.

But at Sabha, Hope and the other youngsters were told for the first time ever that the jobs awaiting them were prostitution or domestic servitude. Hope was certain of not becoming a sex slave. She trusted Ozzy’s sister.

Vehicles and movements in that axis are highly regimented unlike what obtains in regular journeys in which passengers go to parks to board vehicles. So, like other travellers on that route, Hope and the youngsters spent three days idling in Sabha. Then, when drivers who are experienced with the road and desert announced that the cost was clear, the journey to Tripoli continued.

At Tripoli, after meeting Ozzy’s sister, Hope phoned her parents and told her mother for the first time ever that the trip was by road.

Same day Hope arrived, Ozzy’s sister told her she would start work the next day. Hope was already battling with ulcer pains due to starving for 17 days on the trip so she pleaded to be allowed to heal. She vehemently refused, insisting Hope must start paying her 4,002 Libyan dinars (N500, 000). She decided to collect the ‘paltry’ sum because she considers Hope a younger sister.

Hope started work exactly the following day as a servant to a Libyan family and had to learn Arabic within a month to communicate easily. After two months, she stopped working for that family due to the stress of working from 7am to 12 midnight without being allowed to rest. She moved on to work for a friendlier family with a smaller apartment. She stayed with them until she completed paying the madam who brought her to Libya.

OSITA OSEMENE: HOPELESSNESS AND LEAVING NIGERIA AT ALL COST

Once upon a time, after several years of joblessness, notwithstanding graduating from the prestigious University of Benin (UNIBEN) with a very good first degree, Osita Osemene became frustrated. This was sometime in 2003/2004. He lost hope and decided to leave Nigeria by all means for the United Kingdom.

A very close friend volunteered to help by assisting with an informal travel agent. Then, Osita paid for a UK visa and international passport. He was very excited. At last, a better life was smiling at him. And, it came so cheap, too.

Not long after, his helper brought him a travel package – international passport with a visa and flight tickets – he was more excited when given his travel documents.  His transformation began even while still in Lagos. His accent changed – faking how Britons speak, though had never boarded an aircraft all his life at that time.

The D-day arrived for his departure. But at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Osita was instructed to step aside and wait for the British High Commissioner

“I don’t have anything with the British High Commissioner,” the then young Osita had retorted.

Very big trouble was around the corner. An airport official hinted him he was about to be arrested. His visa and passport were fake. He fled the airport leaving behind his friends who had accompanied him to say their goodbyes.

Fake travel documents are a disturbing racket in Nigeria, with even immigrations and airport officials’ involvement.

Osita couldn’t show his face on the streets or his regular hangouts because he had told everyone that cared to listen that he was going to the UK and wasn’t returning to Nigeria until he made it big.

“How could I ever face them? Everyone thought I was already in the UK. I hated Nigeria even more,” Osita sat opposite me in a room at the Ikeja Airport Hotel, one of the elitists’ parts of Lagos state, recounting how his migration dreams headed south.

It was difficult for him to smile. He had to force himself to get out of bed and even eat. He kept telling himself he needed to forge ahead but he had lost his drive, spirit and zest for life. His world was crashing.

His bedroom became a prison for him. The only time he stepped out was when everyone else had left the house and he would scout through the kitchen and eat anything he could find and return to the solitude of the room before anyone arrived.

In his bedroom, all Osita did was stare at the white ceiling boards above him. Lying on a lump of skinny mattresses, he tried to do everything he could to prevent lapsing into a state of uncontrollable grief. His eyes always moved around in slow circles, trailing the lazy rotation of the rusted ceiling fan blades above him. He never held back any tear that threatened to fall. They rolled down his cheeks freely as if being flushed out by angry sweepers.

Notwithstanding the narrow escape at the airport, Osita’s thirst to leave Nigeria by all means increased.

“Due to the desperation and I had made up my mind that I was going to leave this country, I was still not comfortable where I was. I had complained to my relatives, my sisters and friends, so, they were consoling me not to worry, I can still make it (to migrate at all cost).”

CHASING THE MIRAGE

For the second time in less than a month, Osita told his parents goodbye. This time, he was heading to Spain hoping to make it big within a month of his arrival, then get into the UK. His friend who introduced him to the fraudulent travel agent, again, connected him with Dada, a young undergraduate. Osita was shocked Dada was trading his degree for his trip to Spain.

Dada believed that having a secondary school certificate in Europe is better than having a PhD in Nigeria. Dumping four years of university education in Nigeria for an opportunity to be in Spain was heavenly for him.

Ever smiling Dada with a smooth tongue convinced Osita N250,000 was the needed sum for a tourist journey which would get them into Spain. After knocking on several doors for financial assistance and his mother scouting around, the amount was complete and two weeks later, Osita was ready to leave Nigeria again.

They were many leaving the country for Spain through Dada. And were told they would board an aircraft at some point during the trip to Spain. No one bothered to ask any question. Their major goal was to leave Nigeria.  Simple.

Before departing Asaba, Delta State, Dada had assured his clients, including Osita, they would indeed be boarding a plane to Spain but needed to get to Kano first. Osita was told that in five days’ time they would be in Spain because it would be a tourist journey with stopovers; lodging in beautiful hotels and beholding lovely sceneries. On arriving the ancient Northern city, Dada changed the whole boarding itinerary to Morocco.

At some point, Osita suspected something was wrong because Dada and some other persons were trying to unite the travellers before leaving. They were given water to drink that they must not betray each other.

“I was wondering what kind of journey will require not betraying ourselves? But what I found out is that, once you are desperate, you are vulnerable; you will fall into a lot of traps. They can sell anything to you and you will buy. So, I found myself in that place because they had already seen that this guy is no more here, he wants to leave at all cost. And, I went. That is how I found myself in the land of no return, which is Sahara Desert, on my way to Europe,” he recounted.

REALITY UNLEASHED!

At the park, all passengers were told to buy garri, spaghetti, and biscuits. Osita was amazed when he saw Dada buying garri, milk, sugar, spaghetti and geisha. He had a terrible feeling again. Then, he started asking questions that they were supposed to be in luxury buses with their meals paid for by the organisation ferrying them to Spain. He was prevailed upon to be patient.

In Kano, the eager Nigerians were told to be cooperative that someone else was going to get them to Europe soonest. The journey from Kano to Zinder took almost a whole day because they travelled in a truck that was almost falling apart. Then, they were received by an Alhaji when they arrived at their destination. He took them to a connection house where they would spend the next five days.

The connection houses looked like pens for goats. They are old mud buildings in which several persons are allocated little corners in the large open space to put their blankets or wrappers or mats on the floor to sleep until the day they are called to embark on their journey.

A major feature in the connection house is the communal feeding schedule; the owner of the connection house cooks once or twice daily for the occupants of the house who are entitled to eat because they already paid for the service. Also, the owner of the connection house provides protection for persons who are being trafficked or smuggled because police look out for the latter. The owners of the connection houses give part of the money paid to them (by traffickers, smugglers, persons being trafficked and smuggled) to the police as bribes, hence, the latter look the other way while human traffickers and smugglers’ businesses and activities thrive.

What was supposed to be a joyride became tense and overtaken by torrents of quarrels and fights between Osita and Dada, as the former later discovered he had been handed a pack of lies like a bowl of his favourite Nsala soup. He had gullibly swallowed everything only to learn from a fellow passenger there was no airplane anywhere but trips through dangerous deserts.

Hell was let loose when Osita again discovered Dada cheated him. The trip was originally N100, 000 but Dada inflated the price to make up for his own travel expenses.

Investigations so far indicated these connection houses are unsafe.  Records abound of Moroccan burgers – persons who traffick people through Morocco – coming to some of those houses very late in the midnight with guns to rob every occupant.

OF STRANDED NIGERIANS, ABANDONMENT AND MENTAL IMSTABILITY 

All 72 trafficked persons I interviewed and surveyed while working on this story described their stay at Dirkou military camp – after Agadez – as hellish. Osita said so as well.

Many Nigerians become stranded in Dirkou because they are abandoned by their burgers. Several of them have been on the road for no fewer than 12 months due to lack of funds to continue their journey. Many Nigerian girls and ladies are raped by rebels, soldiers and Chaldeans in the camp. Consequently, many of these young Nigerians become mentally unstable in the process.

Medical experts, such as Dr. Babatunde Fadipe, a psychiatrist at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, (LUTH) said people who have been victims of human trafficking can experience a wide range of mental problems or psychological problems. These could include Post Traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD). This is commonly seen in persons who have experienced life-threatening events that may have threatened their existence or witnessed other people being victims of such.

“For someone who cannot control his or her emotions, a lot of things will go wrong, especially as their families would have had high hopes in them believing they are already in Europe,” Dr. Fadipe explained.

Further investigations indicated common symptoms of persons who have been trafficked include fear – the most common, anger, anxiety, depression and some forms of disorders.

Young Nigerians who have become mentally unstable in the Sahara Desert have the meltdown because their expectations were cut short; it is not what they were told that they experienced on the road.

For instance, Osita was told that he was going to be in Spain within the next five days, only to end up in the Sahara Desert and spent 40 days to arrive Libya. He never knew he was actually going to travel by road, how much more, through the desert.

Ms. Ikana Apata, a life coach/mental health expert recommends counselling as a way of assisting survivors of trafficking, although at times, they would need to be placed on prescribed medications.

During initial diagnosis and counselling, other various mental health challenges are discovered.

MARY JOSEPH: RELIGION, TRAFFICKING AND SURPRISES 

Sometime in 2010, August to be precise, 16-year-old Mary Joseph who was about to write her final senior secondary school examination decided to look for her mother during the long vacation because they were separated since she was a toddler due to uncontrollable circumstances. She eventually located her mom but met her in a bad state: abandoned with a set of twins by her husband. He was nowhere to be found.

As the first child, Mary wanted to join her mom wherever she was working so she could earn some more money for her to care for herself and the kids. The mom refused because she had no specific work at the time. But she discussed it with her pastor who was surprised that she had a grown daughter. Impressed by Mary’s zeal to assist, the pastor said there was vacancy at a supermarket somewhere in Lagos. But two days later, she phoned Mary’s mom the place was no more available. However, there was vacancy elsewhere in Kano state. Mary was very excited about working in Kano. It would be her first-time leaving Lagos state, so, considered it an excursion.

Two days later, Mary embarked on the journey to Kano after her mom’s pastor introduced her to a certain Alhaja Hassan, who then handed her over to a man who was to take her from Lagos to Kano state. On their way, at Ibadan, during the night journey, the man picked three ladies. They arrived Kano at about 6pm but it turned out the journey was not yet over as the man made some phone calls, and a golf car turned up to pick them to the next destination. Mary thought it was the last taxi to be boarded. The man also confirmed Mary’s thought that it was the last taxi before the final destination.

When it was almost seven, Mary brought out her mobile phone to call her mother only for her to notice the texts on her phone had changed from “MTN to L’orange.” She started asking questions while the driver turned on the car’s radio for Mary to hear French over the airwaves. Her questions about their whereabouts increased. In a speed of light, the men in the car seized her phone and locked the car doors. She was the only one talking and feared that she was being abducted.

PHENOMENOLOGY OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING

Researches indicate 10 years ago, there were two categories of traffickers: family members – aunties, friends of families and some husbands who felt that they have had the number of children they wanted to have, and because they were very poor, there was no reason their wives could not go abroad to make some money and make their lot better.

But today, investigations from November 2019 when this project commenced reveal that trafficking syndicates have become so sophisticated. In addition to having family members and their friends, individuals are now traffickers on their own.

These trafficking syndicates often consist of madams who could be on their own and businessmen whose products being sold are human beings.

From in-depth researches, it is never easy to recognise them because they are well dressed, have so much influence and affluence, and are seen as responsible and kind-hearted people in the society.

Like business men, they seek products – human beings – to be bought and clients to purchase them. They recruit sales persons and agents in overlooked places such as universities, and secondary schools. Other places also include cyber cafes, bars and clubs while the agents are very young unassuming students.

That is not all. They first become friends with the people they meet at these places, and after winning their trust, tell them there is so much money to be made if they join their businesses as agents. These young secondary school and university students lure their friends and other youths into trafficking rings. They sell human beings as a side business, in addition to their studying for degrees in various schools all over Nigeria.

Investigations further reveal that, as agents, students sell their friends for N100, 000 per person and are immediately paid cash on delivery. They often deceive their friends that they are going abroad for further studies or to become hairdressers and cosmetologists. Their latest deceit is telling their friends who can tie headgear popularly known as gele in Nigeria, that they are taking them to Europe to destinations where there are large populations of Nigerians. They claim there is plenty of money in gele tying because Nigerians overseas organise lavish parties and services of professionals who tie gele are in high demand.

Migration expert, Dr. Franca Attoh, an associate professor at the Sociology department, University of Lagos, said a person being trafficked can start the journey with a group in Nigeria but by the time the person arrives the final destination, he or she would have been trafficked by four different groups.

HELPLESSNESS AND IRREPARABLE DAMAGES                         

Mary quietly watched as she was transferred from one vehicle to another until they arrived a military checkpoint where the car was flagged by army officers. She tried to cry out for help but before she could complete the sentence, she was hit so hard – a thunderous slap – and she fainted.

When she regained consciousness, she found herself in a very big building with several girls. Again, she started asking questions, wanting to know what they were doing there. No one answered her. All the girls looked scared and worried.

Two days later, she was moved to Zinder where she later met Alhaja Hassan’s daughter for the second time. When Mary tried to exchange pleasantries with her, she acted like she had never met Mary before. And, the young man taking her on the journey warned her to mind her business. Later on, some 18-seater buses arrived to convey Mary and the other girls to the next destination.

They were attacked by rebels wielding sophisticated guns. It was Mary’s first time seeing a gun and shot sporadically like she had seen in movies.

 

Mary and the other girls finally discovered they were being trafficked when they arrived at Agadez. They were on their way to Libya to become sex slaves.

But Mary was a virgin.

The man, who took her from Nigeria, was shocked to discover. Feeling some form of remorse because of her sexual purity, he disclosed he could not tell Mary’s mother what the pastor had planned while they were in Nigeria lest his life would have been at stake. And his wife’s too.

More revelations from investigations indicate that traffickers and smugglers often run out of cash on such journeys. When this happens, the girls and ladies being trafficked and smuggled are pimped to make money. Same fate befell the other girls Mary travelled with during their two-week stay at Agadez. Mary was shielded by the man.

When sufficient money had been made from pimping the girls, they were loaded like cows into massive vehicles with open tops and no seats; for the journey. The driver drove like he was high on illicit drugs. Persons who fell out of the vehicle due to poor stamina were abandoned in the desert.

                        https://youtu.be/eMvVqdjGX0k

NO MONEY. NO MERCY. ROOVING IN A LIMBO

At every point on the journey to Libya, anyone who runs out of cash is abandoned while others continued. This is one of the unwritten but active and sacred rules.

By the time Osita arrived Dirkou, in the desert, many of the persons he started the journey with from Kano had been abandoned. Investigations revealed that having money alone is not sufficient.

At a point, Osita and others got stuck on the desert when their truck broke down. This is quite common on the trip in that axis. And, people often die from thirst and heat wave.

They were super excited when someone announced seeing a well not too far away from where they were. All the travellers were thirsty. But their joy was cut short by the driver of their truck who told them many Nigerians who missed their way in the desert were buried in and around the well. Indeed, many skeletons were around and inside that well. Passports around that vicinity reveal they are mostly Nigerians and other West Africa nationals.

The same fate almost befell Osita. He had no water when they had to continue their journey on foot for over 10 hours in the desert, through borders of various communities until they arrived at the first state in Libya- Qatroun. He was left behind when he became too weak to continue with the journey but for a kind-hearted fellow traveller who returned with some drinking water so that he could continue.

Osita and Dada had a major disagreement which almost resorted in physical exchanges between them. Osita was very angry at the great deceit and lies they were told. He was further angered that all these were perpetrated by a young man like him. The relationship broke down irretrievably. They had to go their separate ways.

At some point during his 40- day journey on the road travelling through deserts, Osita had to give a rebel-soldier the designer trouser he was wearing, his bag, neck and hand chains and a pair of sancho shoes in exchange for protection, after he saw how his fellow Nigerians: some who had become his very close friends, were raped, tortured, sold into prostitution, robbed and murdered by rebels, soldiers and Chaldeans.

The rebel soldier took him as a friend and ensured he was never beaten or messed up like others trafficked or smuggled on the trip. Many Nigerian ladies were raped in his presence while others who didn’t have money to give to the rebels and thieves were shot in their legs.

The deaths hit him closest as he helplessly watched Dada die in the desert. He had defended and taken bullets for Osita when attacked by desert armed bandits. A part of him went numb when Temi- a seven-year-old boy, who had become his friend, was killed by hunger, thirst and severe heat in the desert. Images of the little boy’s father crying and staying back in the desert with his dead child haunt Osita till date.

LIFE OF INDISCRIMINATE ARRESTS, UNCERTAINTY

Thirty-five persons trafficked to Libya I interviewed story confirmed they lived a life of uncertainty and indiscriminate arrests from 2015 to 2017. They all claimed Nigerians are hated and targeted by Libyans, the Libyan Police and kidnappers.

According to these trafficking survivors, when Libyans chase black, including Ghanaians, Nigerians, Senegalese and Congolese, they leave others and grab the Nigerians. When Nigerians are abducted, the Libyans break their legs.

Hope Yakub had similar experiences, too.

One day, while at work, she received a call from an unknown person. Her friends had been arrested. She couldn’t go to the Police station to bail them. She would be arrested too. The husband of the Libyan woman she was serving accompanied her to the Police station for the bail which cost 2000 Libyan dinars (N250, 000). Hope had to work extra months for the family as payment for the bail fee. She then stopped being a live-in servant due to sexual harassment and other ill-treatments and moved in with her boyfriend.

Findings so far revealed unmarried ladies who live alone in Libya are constantly harassed by Libyan Police officers. They break into their homes to humiliate, arrest and imprison them.

Not long after she started to live with her boyfriend, Hope became pregnant. The boyfriend wanted her to stop work but she refused. Hope wanted money of her own and was planning to return to Nigeria.

Towards the end of February, Hope’s friends went to the market in the morning to buy food items for their forthcoming birthday party while Hope who was past the first trimester of pregnancy stayed back to cook for them. She prepared beans, ate, watched some movies and slept. When she woke up around 5pm and couldn’t find the girls anywhere around, she knew something was wrong. She raised alarm calling everyone she knew in Libya that something had happened to the two ladies as their phones kept ringing but not being answered.

At about 8pm, a man answered the call that her friends had been abducted by his group. The ransom fee was 1000 Libyan dinars (N125, 000). Every Nigerian associated with the abducted girls refused being the one to deliver the ransom. Hope then decided she would.

The next day, Hope’s taxi driver came for her in possession of a gun and cutlass because she had explained she perceived from the phone call that the abductors were blacks, not Arabs. So, they felt it was something they could handle on their own.

They wasted so much time at the agreed drop-off location for the ransom fee because the abductors kept changing the pick-up time. Then, the taxi driver suspected the abductors were up to no good. Immediately he started the car and wanted to move, they were ambushed. The duo was surrounded by young men pointing sophisticated guns at them.

Hope was dragged out of the car while the driver was thoroughly beaten and his car’s wield screen broken. Passers-by simply looked on. No one uttered a word. Hope was forced into a tinted vehicle by three men wearing Police uniforms and taken to Serir in Tajura. There were many sex workers and Arabs going about their various activities at the place Hope was taken to. She was speechless and overwhelmed by shock at the reality of her being abducted while trying to rescue her friends. She was stripped off her phone and money. A sex worker, a lady from Benin city, Edo state, told Hope her friends had been sold the previous day by her abductors who are Nigerians and Nigeriens.

Hope was beaten with electric cables when she refused to eat and call her family to pay a ransom fee of N500, 000. The gang’s leader later told his members Hope’s buyer had been contacted. She was moved to another place with six guns-wielding Arabs to watch over her. Hope couldn’t escape because she noticed there were CCTVs all over the place.

LIFE OF ASSAULT

At about 12am, two female sex workers from a connection house loudly chewing gums came into the room Hope was in. She explained her predicament to them if they could help her. She was ignored, then told to relax and accept whatever will happen to her. Two mattresses were laid beside Hope while the men had sex with the two ladies at the same time. Hope couldn’t cry. She was too shocked. Then a man, Abdallah, came in, raped Hope while beating her at the same time. Two of his friends also joined him in taking turns to rape her. The three men took turns on her all through the night.  In the morning, she swore (to herself) she would rather die than allow them touch her again. But there was no escape route because where they were was like a forest.

Hope was later moved back to Serir where she met a sex worker and pleaded with her to assist her escape because if she was sold, her pregnancy would be forcefully aborted and she could lose her life. The sex worker; a Nigerian, advised her to simply accept her fate.

At night, about 20 Nigerian and Nigeriene men arrived in the room where Hope was kept. While eating, they talked about the person who was to buy Hope because he was delaying in coming with the money. Then, she was moved to another room where she started praying to God for an escape route.

It started raining.

And, the 20 men were so excited at the sight of the rain and rushed outside because it hardly rains in Libya. While outside, they continuously fired gunshots into the air and danced with reckless abandon, forgetting Hope was alone in the room. Towards 9.30pm, it stopped raining. Hope resumed prayers telling God she considers the rain a sign for her to escape. So, if this was really Him and she wouldn’t be harmed while escaping, the rain should resume falling.

A very heavy downpour started immediately.

The abductors started shooting. Everywhere was noisy because people were very happy over the heavy downpour. Hope picked one of the phones being charged nearby, opened the window and jumped. She removed her shoes and started running until she got to a very high fence. She jumped over the fence. She still doesn’t know how she did it.

She kept running in the heavy downpour while following a light ahead of her until she got to the road at about past 10om. There were no cars on the road anymore. So, she kept running because she knew they would come after her immediately her absence was discovered. She waved at an oncoming vehicle but it didn’t stop. All cars she waved down did not stop. Then, one of the vehicles that had passed her, returned while the occupants asked if all was well with her. She explained that she was kidnapped that they should please assist her. The door was open for her to enter the car. They were also kidnappers.

Hope was driven to a nearby Police station for identification by the officers – if she escaped from them – they said no. The Police officers requested she be left with them for further investigations but Hope refused that the Police will sell her. The men then told the Police officers that they will carry out their investigations. Immediately they stepped out of the Police station, the phone Hope stole started ringing. The men collected the phone and answered the call.

The other kidnappers told them to return Hope because she is one of their wives who stole money from them and ran away. Immediately the call ended, Hope stripped herself naked in front of them saying she should be searched. They did but found no money on her except some pain relievers. She was miraculously released and even given some money to find her way home.

One of the men trailed her to where she was to initially sleep that night – an open space. He forced her to have oral sex with him. When he left, she moved elsewhere out of fear that he would return. She slept in the cold that night and found her way home at dawn the next day. Her friends were very excited on seeing her because no one escapes from kidnappers’ den in Libya.

THE NIGERIAN TREND

National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), the two most reported human trafficking cases are foreign travels which promote prostitution and employment of children as domestic workers while inflicting grievous harm.

Most of these victims are women but children and men these days, now consist larger shares than they did 10 years ago. The anti-trafficking agency’s 2017 report states 0.1 percent of trafficked victims are men while 25 percent are females. Globally, 51percent of trafficked persons are females and 21 percent are males. The report indicates traffickers are often males but women comprise a large number of convicted offenders.

Majority of Nigerian migrants undertake the risky journey in search of jobs in North Africa and Europe. IOM’s Missing Migrants Project states 2,834 migrants died at sea on the route between Libya and Italy in 2017. The Central Mediterranean Sea is one of the deadliest migration routes in the world. Travellers are sexually abused, robbed and abducted on the Niger’s desert to Libya route and while crossing the sea to Italy.

Notwithstanding these hazards, European statistics indicate at least one person dies for every 35 persons arriving Europe. It states the number of illegal migrants from West Africa to Europe is still rising.

EXPENSIVE TICKETS TO CHEAP DEATHS!

Osita had survived thus far: every danger, deportation raids and made it to Tripoli. There was only a push between him and Europe: one ship ride. Standing at the port looking at the large ships, he had wondered which of them he would be traveling in.

There were many people waiting there at the port with Osita and moving in the shadow of the night. Their guide, an average sized Libyan with a limp, had instructed they waited for the lampa-lampa. The crowd awaited the boat.

Investigations reveal that the boats used in crossing the Mediterranean Sea from Libya into Italy come in various sizes and makes but all of them are rickety. They are either made of wood but with Yamaha engines attached to them, or balloons and are popularly known as lampa-lampa. Trafficked and smuggled persons and other illegal migrants pay almost fair fortunes before being allowed to board these boats but with unexpressed guaranty that they will arrive their destinations safely and alive.

Osita was expecting a large ship but was shocked to see a dingy boat coming up shore. It could take about 20 passengers but there were 150 people scheduled to board the boat.

As the boat stopped, people scrambled to get on it, and he watched the lampa-lampa dance upon the waters unsteadily. About 100 had scrambled in while 50 of them were yet to get in. He watched a young Nigerian in the lampa-lampa, holding unto a pole, swaying with the boat.

Investigations reveal that the boat owners, traffickers and smugglers never get on the boat. Rather, they tell the persons in the boat to simply get it to move on a straight path and help themselves through the water.  A passenger who thinks he can operate the boat’s engine volunteers to move it while others suggest the direction they think the boat should go. The smugglers and traffickers give the passengers a mobile communication device, that if they run into danger, they should call a certain phone number and rescuers will turn up. They do this because they are fully aware the passengers will definitely run into danger.

In-depth researches reveal that travellers who get into these boats often do not make it to their final destination because the boats capsize or are turned back with the occupants half alive. Many boats get missing on the high sea and are never found.

A loud horn distracted Osita and he turned. A ship was coming in and some Red Cross officials were busy offloading bodies of people who had drowned while trying to cross the sea. They had also been travelling in a lampa-lampa and it capsized, drowning everyone.

Osita stood at the port for a long time, his resolve growing; this was the midpoint, the final step between him and Spain. Then, he remembered Temi, Dada and other friends he had lost on the journey. He recalled leaving Nigeria well-dressed but at the time he was at the departure point – the Mediterranean Sea – he was only wearing a boxer- undergarment and a singlet.

He was not going to risk bobbing about in a little boat and getting lost in the middle of the sea.

“Having known where I was coming from, I couldn’t stand it anymore. There was no point going to commit suicide when I was already free, because getting to Libya was like freedom for me.

“Somehow, within me, I knew I had to go back. I knew I had to tell people about the unforeseen dangers, the unimaginable hours and the web of deceit that they had been lurched into. Someone needs to tell their stories.”

Osita shook his head. There was no way he was getting on that boat. He stared at the lampa-lampa and wilfully, deliberately turned his back on his ticket to Europe and headed in the opposite direction. Home. Back to Nigeria.

MURDER, MURDER, EVERYWHERE. DEAFENING SILENCE.

Dirkou is a desert and ghetto with different kinds of persons, especially shady characters. The first day Mary arrived there, a soldier stabbed a lady to death in her presence because she demanded for the money he had agreed to pay after rendering sexual services to him. Everyone watched the murder as if in a movie theatre, without uttering a word. Mary spent two weeks in Dirkou watching people being hacked to death and taking advantage of.

Again, they were packed like chickens in a vehicle travelling through the Sahara Desert to Qatroun. Then, their water got finished. The driver had to mix water and petrol in a keg for everyone to sip little drops so it could go around the crowd in the vehicle.

Then, a ghastly accident happened. Mary almost died in the process. Four persons later died due to dehydration, heat wave and exhaustion. She arrived Qatroun but with severe pains due to injuries sustained as a result of the accident.

Mary woke up one night in Qatroun, to a hefty man on top of her. He beat her mercilessly when she struggled to push him away. He gagged her mouth. No one came to rescue her. She was raped.

After some days, Mary was moved to Tripoli, then to Zuwara, where she was handed over to Gani- a fellow Nigerian, who had bought her. He wanted her to immediately resume as a sex worker though she had pleaded that she was in pains and had uncontrolled blood gushing from her vagina due to the rape.

He told her it was none of his business that she had to pay him $3,000.

Mary’s pubic and armpit hair, as well as nails, were cut and collected. Then, she was threatened with voodoo that she will die except she does their biddings. One night, she was assigned to a Sudanese but when he touched her body, it was so hot. She noticed the man was concerned, so, she pleaded he allowed her to use his phone to call her mom. He initially refused because the ‘connection girls’ (sex workers) are not allowed to phone anyone. After much pleading and promises to keep the phone-call a secret, he allowed her call home to inform her mother about the pastor’s evil deeds and what had befallen her in Libya.

Some members of the Oduduwa society – a Yoruba, Nigerian group – had noticed Mary and were on her trail while Gani handed her to another Nigerian to prevent the former from reaching her.

Mary was later moved to Misrata but was taken to the man’s home immediately they arrived at their destination. She met the man’s wife and son – both Nigerians, and pleaded if she could live with them for a few days so she could recover fully but the woman refused that she is to resume immediately as a sex worker at their connection house. Mary took ill and almost died. When Gani was contacted over Mary’s predicament, he simply asked for the amount she had made so far. When told nothing, he ordered she should be left alone to die.

Two weeks later, Gani came down to Misrata when members of the Oduduwa society were pressurising him over the whereabouts of Mary. He then phoned the pastor who sold Mary to him to inform her that Mary had not made a dime since, so, the pastor must pay him. Attempts to have the pastor pay him N500, 000 within three days failed, so he settled for N80, 000.

On the third day, Gani got the N80, 000 he requested from the pastor, and then handed Mary to members of the Oduduwa people who had been searching for her after they heard her rape story amongst members of the Nigerian community in Libya. The Oduduwa group after listening to Mary disclosed that the same pastor had trafficked no fewer than 72 Nigerian girls, including her cousin. The group made Mary to promise she will stop at nothing until the pastor was sent to jail.

HAPPY ENDINGS?

Mary’s mother got in touch with NAPTIP while the organisation arrested the pastor and Alhaja Hassan. November 5th that year, Mary returned to Nigeria through the assistance of the Oduduwa group. The group had never rendered such to anyone before.

Several weeks after Hope escaped from the kidnappers’ den, the whereabouts of her abducted friends was uncovered. They were sold to a lady from Benin city, Edo state who trades in human beings in Libya. After much pleading by Hope and her friends, the woman who had requested for N1 million before she would release the ladies, finally accepted N800, 000. The ladies spent a month and 14 days working as sex slaves for their fellow Nigerian woman.

Hope almost lost her life in the civil unrest around her house in Bazar Benghazi while she was seven- month pregnant. Then, she started planning her return to Nigeria. Six months later, after her son was four- month old, she finally returned to Nigeria on December 2017 after 30 months in Libya.

Osita’s return to Nigeria through the Sahara Desert was not tedious like his departure. The rebels were very happy he was going back to his country, particularly as the decision was his. They even waved ‘goodbye’ at him.

At a point while returning, Osita saw over 25 trucks loaded with Nigerian men and ladies from Edo and Delta States respectively very anxious to get on the Mediterranean Sea through Libya.

“They were running as if Italy was going to run; they were showing me time that they needed to enter (Libya) that they gave them time that the boat would soon leave,” he recalled.

They never believed Osita that nothing awesome was happening in Libya, that it was all deception.

The pastor and Alhaja who sold Mary were sentenced to 21 years in prison respectively, after she testified against them in court. The pastor died immediately she was released from prison after serving her term in jail. Alhaja’s whereabouts at the time of this publication remains unknown.

Notwithstanding forgiveness being one of the strongest messages in Christianity, clerics say such should not be extended to traffickers. One of them, Reverend Father Benson Irabor, Resident Priest, St. Dominics Catholic Church Yaba, Lagos, said traffickers must be jailed notwithstanding forgiveness in Christianity because there is a penalty for every crime that is committed.

“There is a punishment that is attached to every crime; every sin that we commit,” he says.

TRAFFICKING SURVIVORS COME BACK WITH PLENTY OF MONEY OR ELSE…!

Fifty six of the 72 trafficking survivors I interviewed in Nigeria between January 2020 and July 2021 said they are discriminated against and stigmatised by the society, including their friends and families. 48 of these affected persons are young ladies, while eight of them are men.

Further findings reveal survivors are discriminated against if they return to the country with no money. They are not being discriminated against because they were trafficked but because they came back with nothing. Their parents and families see them as failures and verbally, mentally and emotionally abuse them. They even stop feeding them.

But, when survivors return to Nigeria and build hotels and houses and establish businesses in choice parts of towns and cities, they are accorded so much respect.

Corroborating these findings, Dr. Attoh shares a personal experience of a lady who was trafficked for sex slavery, paid her bondage fee and worked as a sex worker on her own thereafter, before returning to Nigeria with so much money to invest. Young men who are fully aware of her history are begging her to marry them while she is giving them the cold shoulder.

“It is because the person has money!

“So, two things: if you want to be trafficked, please, come back with plenty of money. Don’t be poor because poverty is a curse. But, if you come back with no money, then it means whatever you see, you get,” Dr. Attoh warns.

The associate professor says if they succeed, even as thieves, their families will rebrand them. She says she knows five ladies who were trafficked for sex slavery, successfully paid their bondage fee, worked as sex workers on their own and are now back to Nigeria. They own lucrative transportation lines in the country and call the shots in Nigeria’s transportation industry.

She notes that if a girl who is trafficked returns wearing only the clothes NAPTIP gave her, no family member will want to have anything to do with her.

https://youtu.be/3DBEAgv-xqo

However, in an online survey via WhatsApp with respondents living in Abuja, Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Rivers states respectively and Cotonou in the Republic of Benin, it turns out that the society is still divided over accepting human trafficking survivors and Libya returnees.

Eleven of the 22 survey participants live in Lagos, six in Abuja, two in Ogun state and one each in Oyo, Rivers and the Republic of Benin respectively. While 14 males and eight females who consist: civil servant, book publisher, journalists, politician, life/relationship coach, IT/Brand consultants, trader, artisan, rights activists, teacher, caterer, realtor, lawyers, fashion designer and medical doctors participated in the survey.

Titled: ‘Societal Acceptance Of Libya Returnees/Human Trafficking Survivors,’ I asked all respondents: “Would you (allow your child) marry a Libya/human trafficking survivor?” Ten of the 22 participants said they can marry the trafficked survivors and will allow their children do same. Nine on the other hand vehemently refused, three were uncertain if they can or will allow their kids embark on such path.

Some of their responses include:

              https://youtu.be/3fp1flWzfsE

 

WAY FORWARD

Dr. Anthony Okeregbe, Senior Lecturer, Philosophy department, University of Lagos says the Nigerian government needs to do better in curbing human trafficking in the country and this could be done through diligent prosecution of those who have been culprits of human trafficking.

Migration experts say the Nigerian government can end illegal migration by fixing the economy, not by organising fanciful events that are not beneficial to the vulnerable who are prone to being trafficked.

Dr. Attoh suggests the government should strengthen NAPTIP – the organization that the Nigerian law has set up to help those who are survivors.

Findings reveal that NAPTIP has shelters but lack sufficient professionals, such as psychologists and social workers, needed for the rehabilitation of trafficked girls and women. Medical experts say trafficking survivors need to undergo therapy, and it is never a one-off happenstance.

Investigations reveal many trafficking survivors struggle with various forms of traumas and mental health challenges even years after their return to Nigeria. Their emotional and mental challenges go undetected because they do not undergo therapy, and have no access to psychologists or psychiatrists due to ignorance, lack of funds and insufficient psychologists and psychiatrist in Nigeria. All the 72 trafficking survivors I interviewed while working on this story say they have never spoken with a psychologist or psychiatrist, how much more undergo therapy. Since their return to the country about three years ago, they have been trying out various ways to survive Nigeria’s harsh economic reality.

Further findings, even amongst the 72 survivors I interacted with, reveal that when the emotional or mental challenges of trafficking survivors are obvious without diagnosis, their friends, families and the society mock them and tag them with nasty and inhuman names. Their families with time start avoiding them, deny them in public and do everything possible to prevent such survivors from interacting with their close associates. There is still so much shame attached to mental health challenges in Nigeria, even that which is caused by traumatic trafficking experiences.

Women and girl-child education should be made a priority. This is according to Rev. Fr. Irabor. He says poor education of women is responsible for why they are easily trafficked.

Dr. Attoh says living overseas is no easy task because it makes Nigerians prone to racism and discrimination. The wide gap when foreign currencies are changed to naira is responsible for the numerous risky journeys Nigerians are embarking on, as well as living overseas.

Immediately the economy is fixed, a number of things will take their normal shape overnight. There would be no need for road shows, enlightenment campaigns, advocacy programmes, or traditional rulers making anti-trafficking pronouncements.

                 https://youtu.be/ZMefcSRn2CA

HOPE FOR TRAFFICKING SURVIVORS?

Dr. Fadipe says there is hope for survivors of human trafficking and irregular migration but all hands need to be on deck to do this. There is the need to educate the community and support the survivors.

Dr. Attoh also says there is hope for trafficking survivors because no situation is hopeless. Once there is life, there is hope. She however warns that: “our destiny is in our hands. The gods can only help us when we decide to help ourselves. Anyone who is a survivor; having survived, you have returned to source, it is now up to you to key into rehabilitation to see how you can rebuild yourself.”

Rev. Fr. Irabor says one of the ways trafficking survivors can rebuild themselves is by making lemonades with the lemons life hauled at them.

“There are people who after being trafficked, they come out of it and you see them promoting something that is worthwhile. There is hope for them. Everybody has hope and that is what we preach; that is the gospel of Christ -preach hope to the people – instead of them to feel dejected or feel rejected because of something has happened to them.”

 

Kindly watch the full documentary on How Families, Friends, ‘Kill’ Nigerian Women, Youths (1) here:

https://youtu.be/5na0RChAEFs

This report was supported by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (DFAIT) through the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) under the empowering young people in Africa through media and communication project. 

Ever wondered about the existence of places and the possibility of the sun not setting in them?

Well, you are not alone on that as most persons would never have imagined the existence of such place even though they really do exist.

This goes to prove even more that the world is filled with amazing and fascinating destinations you might just want to visit in other to experience the goodness that abounds in them.

Let’s share eleven places where the sun actually does not set:

· Alaska

Alaska is the northernmost and the coldest state in the US, and it is another country, where the sun stays on the horizon continuously for a long time. From early May to the end of July the sun is out all the time, whereas in the winter, the sun doesn’t come up as well.

This island was once part of Russia, but the United States bought it from Russia and has been part of America ever since.

It is also called the state of the beautiful glaciers, in many places the sun does not set here between May and July, that is, there is no night here for a while. Here the sun sets around 12:30 p.m. At night and sunrise also occurs after 51 minutes.

Alaska has a lot of amazing destinations that are unaffected and preserved.

· Finland

Decorated with thousands of lakes and islands, Finland is quite a beautiful and attractive country.

In the summer season, the sun continues to spread its light here for about 73 days. People here sleep less in summer and more in winter. Finland is famous for its fantastic skiing destinations, and you can also see the northern lights.

· Hammerfest -Norway

Hammerfest is one of the northernmost cities in the world, and one of the oldest in Northern Norway with a population of around 8,000 people. It has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, for being part of the Struve Geodetic Arc.

The sunsets in this city at 12:43 am and rises again at an interval of just 40 minutes.

Norway is world-famous for its beauty. It is one of the richest countries in the world. Not only this but the people here are also very conscious about health. But the biggest feature of Norway among these features is its natural beauty.

This country comes within the Arctic Circle. The sun does not set here for about 76 days between May and July.

· Iceland

It is the largest island in Europe after Great Britain and one of the least populated countries with no mosquitoes.

In Iceland during the summer, the nights are clear and white. In the month of June, the sun never quite sets. Grimsey Island, in the Arctic Circle, and the city of Akureyri are some of the ideal places to gaze at the Midnight Sun.

Iceland is a truly fascinating country, which seems as if it’s out of this world. There are several unique and breathtaking things to see in Iceland, from the unique combination of volcanoes and glaciers to the northern lights.

There are also some regions in Iceland, where the sun stays up from early May to late July.

· Nunavut, Canada

Located two degrees above the Arctic Circle, Nunavut is a city of just over 3,000 people in the Northwest Territories of Canada.

During the winter you experience about 30 consecutive days of total darkness, but the good thing is that you have two months of 24/7 sunlight in summer.

· Qaanaaq, Greenland

The city is located in the extreme north of Greenland with less than 650 inhabitants. The period of the midnight sun lasts two and a half months, during which time people must sleep with black curtains, in order to fall asleep. Its winters are long and cold and its nights are so beautiful that there are no human words to describe them.

· Saint Petersburg, Russia

With a population of more than 1 million people, Saint Petersburg is the northernmost city in the world. It is at such a high latitude that for a month and a half, the sun does not pass below the horizon enough for the sky to darken.

· Svalbard, Norway

It is the land of polar bears which is located on a latitude of between 74° to 82° north, but not only that, the sun doesn’t set for four months between mid-April and mid-July.

Here you can see the northern lights when visiting there.

· Sweden

Sweden is a great country to visit if you want to experience the never-setting sun.

Due to the different geographical location of this country, day and night are different here. In many places in Sweden, the sun doesn’t set from May to August. There is no night here for about 100 days.

Though the sun doesn’t stay up for the complete 24 hours, as it does in Norway, you can expect 20 hours long days. From May to August, the sun sets at midnight during the summer months, and it is back up at 4:30 am.

· The Bahamas

The Bahamas is located nowhere near the poles of the earth; in fact, it is very close to the equator, so what is it doing on its list? Well, we don’t have to be that strict with the rules, do we? Though the sun does set every day in the Bahamas, and the days are exceptionally long, either the sun is so pleasant in this region of the world, that it is worth traveling.

The turquoise waters and the long white sand beaches invite thousands of tourists every year.

The Bahamas is known to have some of the most amazing beaches and resorts in the world.

· Yukon, Canada

The city in the second-largest country in the world which is covered with snow for a long time in a year.

However, the sun shines continuously for 50 days during the summer days in the north-western part of here.

Yukon is known as the land of the midnight sun, with a glorious sky and infinite summer light. All this allows a virgin nature, with wildflowers and a multitude of varieties of migratory birds.