Abigail was among over 500 girls trafficked to Libya for prostitution by a Nigerian syndicate led by a couple, Alhaji Muritala Sanni and his wife Alhaja Lateefat Sanni and Mrs. Bankole, Lateefat’s mum. Bankole was arrested and charged to court by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and other Related Matters (NAPTIP). But her daughter and son-in-law are still on the run.
Like many other victims, Abigail was tricked to Libya. She was told that there were vacancies for nurses in Libya. But when she got there, she was held and forced to carry out abortions for other Nigerian girls held captive by the couple. Bankole’s job in Nigeria was to recruit unsuspecting girls and send them to Libya to her daughter Lateefat and her son-inlaw, Sanni.
The couple would hold them prisoners until they engage in prostitution and pay 10 times the money used in transporting them to Libya. Saturday Telegraph had earlier reported how Abigail confessed to having carried out over 320 abortions for Nigerian girls held captive in Libya by the couple before she was rescued.
Abigail was among the last three girls, rescued by a Human Rights Group, Alliance of Rights Defenders, ARD. Abigail and the two other rescued girls returned to Nigeria, sick. They looked pale and had rashes all over their bodies. Abigail, who had spent three years in Libya,said she was glad to be home.
Abigail had recounted her story: “These girls were forced to sleep with men as old as 50 years without protection. I got beaten whenever I refused to abort for the girls. Lateefat would use the stick part of a mop to hit me mercilessly. I have aborted over 320 pregnancies. The teenage girls also told me they used cucumbers to deflower them before they were forced to sleep with men.”
Abigail further said: “I’m an orphan, living in Bayelsa State with my siblings. I’m the oldest child. My parents are dead. After my parents died, the responsibility of taking care of my siblings fell on me. Sometime in 2013, my sister’s friend, a nurse, came to our house in Bayelsa.
“She promised to introduce me to people that would assist me financially. I was interested. She took me to see Lateefat and her husband Sanni. They told me they could help me to make good money as an auxiliary nurse in Italy. They assured me they had connections in Italy.”
The Chief Executive Officer of ARD, Ojay Akinwale, expressed sadness over Abigail’s death and urged government to take human trafficking seriously. He said Abigail died on April 5. Mr. Tunde Oshokoya, a private investigator, who worked with ARD, had to travel to Libya, to investigate the prostitution ring, leading to the rescue of some victims, including Abigail.
Oshokoya said: “She died after being sick for a while. She came from Libya to Nigeria with the sickness. We took her to hospital for treatment, but she gave up the ghost. ARD, an NGO, took up the responsibility of rescuing and rehabilitating trafficked victims without any assistance from the government.”
Abigail was trafficked to Libya in 2013 after she was lured there to work as an auxillary nurse. Abigail had earlier expressed fears that she would die if she exposed the Libya human trafficking syndicate. The rescued victims were transferred to NAPTIP.
The agency had since charged some accused to court for the roles they played. Abigail was yet to give evidence in court before she died. During her chat with journalists after her arrival in Nigeria, Abigail had said: “They locked us up in a room with 50 other girls. We were not allowed to go out and they beat us mercilessly if we attempted to escape.
“It’s sad that I didn’t come back with anything to show for my three years labour in Libya. They took my money and put this sickness in me. I became very ill after I told Sanni in January that I couldn’t continue to work for them. He refused to pay me my money.
I got help from a church through the assistance of Alliance of Rights Defenders (ARD) to come back to Nigeria. I and two other girls were brought back by air on March 11. We are very ill and need government help.”http://newtelegraphonline.com/trafficked-girl-carried-320-abortions-nigerian-girls-dies/
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