Rescued underaged girls trafficked to Ghana for prostitution arrive Nigeria

Ten underaged Nigerian girls who were trafficked to Ghana for prostitution have arrived in Nigeria.

The Chairperson of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, disclosed this on Friday in a post on her X handle.

Trafficking

PREMIUM TIMES reported that the girls were filmed recently narrating how they were trafficked to Ghana for prostitution.

The girls are aged between 15 and 18 years old, they stated in the clip.

Seven of the girls said they are from Imo State, south-east Nigeria while three of them said they are from Jos in Plateau State, North-central Nigeria.

The girls said they spent about two months in the West African country.

The girls, three of who are siblings, said a brother to one of them trafficked them and that their mobile phones were seized on their arrival in Ghana.

In another video clip uploaded on the same X handle, the suspected trafficker admitted trafficking the girls.

The unidentified trafficker, who is a Nigerian, said he received 200 Ghana Cedis daily as proceeds from the girls’ prostitution.

The amount is about N20,000 or $14, according to the current exchange rate.

It is not clear if the 200 Ghana Cedis is the daily value received for each or all of the girls.

He claimed the girls told him that they were up to 20 years old.

The Chairperson of the Nigerians in the Diaspora Organisation, Callistus Elozieuwa, was seen in another clip announcing the rescue of the girls.

Mr Elozieuwa also said the suspect had been arrested.

Arriving Nigerian

Giving an update on her X handle on Friday, Mrs Dabiri-Erewa announced that the rescued girls had arrived in Nigeria.

“They (the girls) arrived at Lagos International Airport on Tuesday night accompanied by the representatives of the Imo State Governor, (Hope Uzodinma), the deputy speaker and the commissioner for women affairs and NiDCOM staff,” she wrote on the microblogging platform.

“They are now receiving proper counselling and rehabilitation.”

War against traffickers

The NiDCOMM chairperson uploaded a video clip on the X handle showing the girls and the officials singing and celebrating their arrival in Nigeria.

“This is the beginning, by the grace of God, of greater things in your lives. Whoever did this to you will not prosper,” she told the girls.

“Amen!” the girls chorused.

Continuing, Mrs Dabiri-Erewa said, “Traffickers will be shamed. And as we said today, we have declared a war against human trafficking.

“Look at you, beautiful girls. Your lives will only be better. Nobody will destroy your lives.”

Prohibited in Nigeria

Nigeria, in 2015, enacted the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act, which outlawed all acts of human trafficking in the country.

The Act prescribes five to 10 years imprisonment and a fine of N1 million for the trafficking of children, depending on the purpose of such trafficking.

Several persons have been convicted of child trafficking across the country.

The Kano State High Court, in July 2021, sentenced a man, Paul Owne, to 91 years in prison for kidnapping and trafficking of children in the state for sale in Onitsha, Anambra State.

A Federal High Court in Port-Harcourt, River State, in 2019, sentenced three persons to a combined 12 years imprisonment for trafficking a two-year-old male child and one other child.