A woman, identified as Olanike Ajayi Adedire, has been reportedly stranded in Libya and subjected to hard labour in a failed sojourn abroad.
The mother of three attempted to seek greener pastures in Turkey but found herself in the North African country against her wishes.
One Sunday Akinyemi and his wife, a self-acclaimed prophetess, were arrested for the roles they played in the matter, which the Ekiti State commander of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Mr Oladimeji Sampson, described as a case of clear human trafficking.
Friends and families of the victim, who were seriously disturbed by the development since she left about three months ago, are demanding her immediate return to Nigeria.
Akinyemi and his accomplice allegedly trafficked the woman alongside his daughters and several other persons to the country.
Speaking further on the matter, the NAPTIP commander said the syndicate, husband and wife, who are perpetrating the human trafficking evil in Ekiti, were arrested.
“And we believe they connived together. They have been in the business for a very long time, even though the husband is claiming he is no longer in the business, but they have moved up to seven or eight persons to Libya and took several thousands of naira from each person,” he said.
The victim, Adedire, while narrating her ordeal, via a phone conversation, said the wife of the suspect, who is a prophetess, tricked her into believing that she would be travelling to Turkey to live a better life, only to find herself in Libya, where she was subjected to hard labour.
She said, ” As soon as they took me to the prophetess’ place, she told me I would be going to Turkey, but I immediately told her that my father’s funeral ceremony would soon come up. But she said I won’t be able to attend my dad’s burial because something terrible is going to happen to me, and it is better for me to start heading for Turkey immediately.
“I told her that it is my biological father that we are discussing here. She said he is dead and that is all, and I should be going and she is ready to do some spiritual stuff for me to make things work well for me when I get there, and nothing evil will happen to me as I am travelling to Turkey,” she said.
When asked about the kind of work offered to her there, she said they engaged her in construction work and other tasks.
Her husband, who also spoke on the incident, said the woman left his place in Ado Ekiti on February 17 after he gave her some money to travel to Ijesa-Isu Ekiti.
“I promised to join her there because the burial was slated for February 23. In the evening of that day, I called Ijesa-Isu to send more money to her, but I was told she hadn’t arrived in the town.
“But she was calling me, not knowing that she had boarded a vehicle to Kano, since the prophetess warned her against telling her husband about her journey and not attending her father’s burial. I have been searching for her, all over the place, and her family members said I must look for her because I am the one they know as her husband.
“Thankfully, towards the end of March, she called me and begged me not to be offended, that she was in Libya all the while and that she was tricked into the country. A month later, she called and told me she is now suffering there, they are beating her and subjecting her to hard labour. And she always calls me around 1 or 2 am in the night, saying that is the only time she is free to call me,” he said.
He said there was a day she called him at night, saying she was washing clothes at that time.
While being quizzed, the suspect, Akinyemi, admitted to NAPTIP of the offence but claimed that he was only trying to help the woman since his own two daughters were also involved.
Oladimeji (NAPTIP state commander), who gave an update on the matter, said the suspects had been charged to court after the initial investigation and were granted administrative bail.
He said the suspects were made to sign an undertaking that they would bring the woman back to Nigeria.
“This action was taken because in the course of our duty, we are not to detain suspects for more than 48 hours unless we charge them to court. Our legal department studies every case and gives advice. The investigation is ongoing because we need to see the woman. The complainant, the woman’s husband, came to our office recently and told us he is hearing from her.
“But that notwithstanding, immediately, the suspects were released, we made them sign an undertaking that they must bring the woman back from Libya, which they promised to do on or before August 20. It is when the woman comes back that we are going to start the investigation afresh. She is the victim, and we have to hear from her. Already, the case has been established as human trafficking. We have ordered the suspects to always report to our office occasionally, which they have been doing,” he said.
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