The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) says it has rescued four young girls, who are indigenes of Akwa Ibom, who were trafficked to Mali for sexual exploitation.
The Uyo Zonal Commander of NAPTIP, Mr Emmanuel Awhen, disclosed this while speaking with newsmen on the activities of the agency in Uyo on Tuesday.
Awhen said the four girls were rescued in collaboration with their partner, the Global Anti-human Trafficking Organisation (GAHTO) working with the agency in Mali.
He said that the four girls were lucky, as one of them had the phone number of a NAPTIP official and was able to call through someone’s phone to inform the officer of their ordeal in Mali.
“Acting on the information we swung into action and in collaboration with the GAHTO, the four young girls were rescued and reunited with families in Akwa Ibom.
“The girls were deceived and trafficked to Mali with the guise of them going to work in a supermarket and saloon, but they ended up in forced labour and sexual exploitation.
“Luckily for them, one has our phone number and called through a person’s phone. She also sent numerous voice notes, which we used to connect and repatriate them back to Akwa Ibom using our international partners,” Awhen said.
Awhen said that the rescued girls disclosed to them that more than 50 young girls from the state were in Mali doing prostitution.
The zonal commander added that the agency in the last month had secured the conviction of one of the human traffickers, who specialised in recruiting young girls to Mali and Côte d’Ivoire for sex slavery.
“It’s noteworthy that the same incident happened in Côte d’Ivoire when we received calls from there by Akwa Ibom girls who were deceived and trafficked to the country but were forced into prostitution and sexual exploitation.
“We used our network to arrest the trafficker involved, she was charged to court and presently sentenced to 12 years in prison,” he said.
He appealed to parents and guardians to be mindful of those coming to take their young girls with the intention of greener pastures, stressing that they might end up in child labour or prostitution.
The zonal commander solicited support from the State Government, well-meaning individuals and organisations in the state to support the agency in the fight against human trafficking, as the federal government cannot do it alone.
The zonal commander urged traffickers to desist from such acts, as the state and country were no longer safe for such erroneous crimes.
One of the rescued girls, Stella narrated how she was picked in Uyo by a lady from Akwa Ibom, who said they were going to Lagos to dance at her birthday party.
Stella said they danced in Lagos but were moved to Benin Republic from there, transported to Mali for sexual exploitation.
“While we were there in Lagos, she did not end it there, she took us to Mali and every night she gave us 20 condoms to sleep with 20 men in a night and to remit to her 20, 000 CFA franc daily,” she said
The zonal commander urged victims of human trafficking, parents and guardians and the general public to reach the agency for help on the following phone numbers; 08069539747, 08023574406 and 0803596183.