A female victim of human
trafficking recently rescued from Saudi Arabia says many Nigerian girls in the
country were raped and made to work 18 out of 24 hours.
The victim, who was veiled,
disclosed this while narrating her ordeal at the ministry of foreign affairs in
Abuja.
She said she left for Saudi with
other girls in December 30, 2017, and went through hell in the country before
being rescued by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in
Persons (NAPTIP).
The victim said many were made to
sleep in very poor condition and not paid in accordance with what the
trafficking agencies promised them.
“It all started through a friend
who claimed that she was living in Dubai. She introduced me to a woman agent in
Abuja. I was living in Lagos and was later invited to meet her in Abuja,” NAN
quoted her to have said.
“When I came, I was taken for a
medical check-up in Dr Wada’s hospital. The agent promised that I would go to
Saudi as a sales girl and that I would be earning equivalent of N150,000 there.
“Everything was processed through
her and when we got to Saudi, it was a different thing entirely, my passport
was seized and I ended working as a house help.”
She reportedly said when the
condition became unbearable, she called the woman and said that she could no
longer cope but the agent said she could not leave and that she had to pay N1.7
million before regaining freedom.
“And if I could not pay I would
have to work for two years, so I contacted a journalist friend who contacted
NAPTIP that contacted the Nigerian Embassy through the ministry of foreign
affairs,” she said.
“I want government to assist
those other girls that are stranded because it is not easy. Nigerian girls are
passing through hell in Saudi, there may not be work in Nigeria but it is better
to stay back.
“I went through physical torture
because my boss and her children beat me when I said that I wanted to go back
to Nigeria.”
Be warned! Saudis don't use females in sales!!!!!
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