Punch reports:
Five suspected members
of a human trafficking ring, paraded by the National Agency for the Prohibition
of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, have confessed to taking two Nigerian girls
to Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, to become commercial sex workers.
They also admitted that
they recorded the girls’ nude videos while they were taking oaths.
Punch learnt that the
suspects ─ Blessing Gabriel, 25; Precious Ejiro-Owoh, 29; Rose Gabriel, 25;
Priscilla Bassey, 33; and 38-year-old Terry Smooth ─ were apprehended by the
agency on September 8, 2015, while one of their victims, identified only as
Ann, had been rescued.
Our correspondent
gathered that while Ann was being rehabilitated at the NAPTIP office, the
suspects were assisting the officials with information to arrest the fleeing
members of the syndicate.
It was learnt that two
of the victims of the syndicate, Ann and Chisom, had fled from Dubai in August,
making the gang to put their nude visuals on the social media.
The visuals, which
showed the girls swearing to oaths of allegiance, were said to have been sent
to the agency.
Our correspondent
gathered that the Lagos Zonal Command officials of NAPTIP on Tuesday, September
8, arrested Dubai-based Blessing, who confessed to have trafficked Ann.
It was learnt that the
lady, who reportedly sneaked into the country for a traditional marriage, was
arrested at the Agboroko village, Iba area of Lagos.
It was also learnt that
the officials arrested other gang members in the Lekki Phase 1 and Ajah areas.
Blessing, who claimed
that she worked with a travel agency in Dubai, told PUNCH Metro that she sent N35,000 to bring Ann
from Nigeria as a commercial sex worker in Dubai.
The suspect claimed
that the arrangement was with the consent of the victim.
She said, “I did not know
the victim from anywhere. Gina, who has not yet been arrested, is my friend in
Dubai. She was the one who told me that she needed a girl from Nigeria to do
“runs”. I then told Precious, my Nigerian friend, to get me someone.
“Gina sent N35,000 to
prepare the girl that would be brought. That was in July. So, it happened that
the girl, Ann, was brought to Dubai. I personally went to pick her from the
airport.
“When she came to Gina,
the girl was taken inside a room, stripped and asked to say an oath. I was not
there; I was not the person that stripped her. She did the job for about a
month before she fled from Dubai.
“I knew they were
bringing her for commercial sex; and she was also aware. She told Precious that
she was ready to travel out of the country and do any kind of work.”
Precious, who confessed
to luring the girl to travel to Dubai, pleaded that it was her first time to
deal in trafficking of persons.
The NAPTIP Lagos
director, Joseph Famakin, said the nude video was released on the Youtube, after Ann escaped
from the ring, adding that the syndicate also forced the girls to swear to
oaths.
He said, “The victim
was recruited from Lagos for Blessing, who was in Dubai. Blessing was
responsible for her travel expenses. The process of preparing her for Dubai was
coordinated by Blessing’s sister, Rose Gabriel.
“On arrival in Dubai,
the oath was forcefully administered on her, and it was recorded on video. This
recording was later released on Youtube after she escaped from her exploiters
in Dubai. She was forced into prostitution contrary to the initial promise of
being given a job at a hair dressing saloon.”
Our correspondent
learnt that other members of the trafficking ring in Dubai ─ Gina, Fegor Ebony
Ejeba, and Nicole Esther Otubu ─ were still at large, and efforts were on to
track them down.
The assistant Director,
Press and Public Relations, NAPTIP, Josiah Emerole, said the suspects would be
charged to court, adding that efforts were on to rescue the other victims of
the syndicate.
He said, “We call on
all Nigerians to join hands with the agency to nip in the bud human trafficking
in the country.”
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