A rescued mother of three (names witheld) has shared her bitter slavery experiences in the hands of her traffickers in Lebanon.
Barely three weeks after Omolola Ajayi was rescued from the clutches of human traffickers, another victim has been rescued from Lebanon.
This disclosure was made during a press conference on Tuesday in Lagos by the Commander of National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP Lagos, Mr. Daniel Atokolo.
The commander said the survivor (names withheld) was trafficked by a 54 year old Lebanese in October 2019, to his home country.
He said the victim was rescued in less than two weeks the agency got a complaint by the husband of the woman.
Trouble started for the victim when her friend introduced her to the Lebanese National who is resident here in Lagos.
According to Atokolo, “the suspect (names withheld) had trafficked the victim on the pretence of employing her as a caregiver to his aged mother in Lebanon.
“On arrival, the victim was reported to have been received by an agent who handed her over to a family where she was exploited as a domestic servant. The victim also reported that she was sexually harassed while working for the said family.”
When approached by the victim’s husband to return his wife, the suspect reportedly demanded that the victim would only be returned if the family provides another to replace her.
The victim returned at 16:00 hours (Nigerian time) on Saturday, 2nd February, 2020 and is presently in NAPTIP’s care.
Speaking to the media, the survivor explained that she was an hairstylist while in Nigeria and she had heard many promising stories of a better life abroad.
On the premise of this, she travelled to Lebanon only to be turned into a slave and not a cleaner as agreed before her engagement with a promise to be paid $2,000 monthly.
The 34 year old mother of three said her four months stay in Lebanon was nothing but slavery.
Narrating her ordeal, “my friend took me to the Lebanese so as to help him in house cleaning and care for his mummy in Lebanon and he said he will pay me $2000 per month. But there was no payment of such.
“I was carried from one place to another, five places and many places to work.
She said her terrible experiences includes “Working hard like slave and not a house girl. Despite my hard work, I don’t eat good food except bread and Lipton. When I always complain, they will gather their left-over foods for me to eat.”
The Kwara born indigene said she is married and a mother of three kids and that it was due to the intervention of her husband she got to NAPTIP and in return NAPTIP facilitated her return to Nigeria.
She said she was sexually harassed by the older children of the mother of her employer but she resisted.
Advising Nigerians, “I thank God that Nigeria government helped me come back to my Fatherland. Adding,”I beg everybody to remain in Nigeria be cause Nigeria will still become better.
Meanwhile, the Commander, NAPTIP Lagos warned Nigerians to take necessary precautions to avoid falling prey to human and sexual exploiters.
Explaining the indicators for applying for a job, the Commander expressed, “We always tell Nigerians, DG NAPTIP Julie Okah-Donli will tell you when the promises are so rosy smell a rat. When every thing is so good… There is no place under the sun where you can pick dollars from the ground. Euros, Pound sterling, even Naira here is not. When promises are so rosy, look at it.
“Firstly, when the promises are so rosy and secondly, what are your competences, do you want to go become a medical doctor in US, when you have not gone to medical schools…what are your certifications?
He advised those proposing to travel to do some sort of investigations on those offering them jobs.
