An 18-year-old girl, Faith Joseph, has shared how she resisted pressure to go into prostitution in Mali after traffickers lured her with a fake supermarket job in Lagos.
Joseph, who worked as a maid in Afuze, Owan East Local Government Area of Edo State, said she was promised a salesgirl job in Lagos before discovering too late that she had been deceived.
“I was told I would work in Lagos State as a salesgirl. When we arrived in Lagos at night, we slept in a hotel. The following day, we went to Cotonou in the Republic of Benin, where I complained that we had passed Lagos State. She (the trafficker) said we had not reached our destination,” she recalled.
She explained that in Cotonou, she was handed over to a driver who transported her to Mali the next day.
“In Mali, they took me to one lady, but I saw that it was not what I was told. What they are doing there is prostitution, and I told her I could not do it,” she said.
Joseph said her traffickers refused to let her return home unless she brought another person to replace her. “I was in Mali for three weeks before I ran to the police station. Life was not easy for me in Mali because I refused to do prostitution. Some people were giving me money to eat until I was rescued,” she added.
Her parents had raised alarm over her disappearance, leading to her eventual rescue with the help of the Edo State Migration Agency.
The agency’s Director General, Lucky Agazumah, urged residents to report suspected trafficking cases, stressing that Governor Monday Okpebholo is determined to clamp down on traffickers and ensure they face prosecution.
Edo State has long battled human trafficking, with many victims ending up in forced prostitution abroad. In 2018, the Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II, revoked oaths placed on victims by native doctors and placed curses on anyone still engaging in the illicit trade.
