Chiemelie Ezeobi, Segun James and Eddie Alegbe
The Lagos Command of National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) Command, has apprehended a Lebanese for recruiting Nigerian women for labour and sexual exploitation in his home country.
NAPTIP Lagos Commander, Mr. Daniel Atokolo, said the survivor (names withheld) was trafficked by the 54-year-old Lebanese in October 2019, to his home country.
He said the victim was rescued after the agency got a complaint from the trafficked woman’s husband.
According to Atokolo, “trouble started for the victim when her friend introduced her to the Lebanese who is resident here in Lagos.
“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.”
Faced with no other option, the husband involved NAPTIP and the victim was returned to Nigeria on Saturday, February 2, 2020 and is presently in NAPTIP’s care.
Speaking to the media, the survivor explained that she was hairstylist while in Nigeria, adding that she had heard many promising stories of a better life abroad.
On this premise, she travelled to Lebanon only to be turned into a slave and not as 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.
