A young lady has revealed how a pastor in her church trafficked her to Russia with promises of greener pastures but ended up forcing her into prostitution.

The victim, Florence, an indigene of Edo State, said she had no plans of travelling abroad until a pastor in the church she attends advised her she would be better off if she travelled abroad to practice her hairdressing trade.

Based on the advice, Florence travelled to Russia in 2017 and there her travails began. Instead of practising her handiwork, she was forced into prostitution by the pastor’s sister.

Narrating her ordeal in a The Nation’s report, she said:

“Ironically, the man in charge of the journey was an assistant pastor in my church. He was the one who told me that I would be better off over there and would be better positioned to take care of myself and my family.

“But the story changed when I got to Russia. My madam, who was my pastor’s sister, told me to put my craft aside because the way I would pay her back was different from what they had told me. She said I would have to work as a prostitute to pay her back because that was the easiest way to get the money.

“She was speaking with threats. And since I had nobody to run to over there, I decided to do her wish. I paid a total of $45, 000 to my madam, even though I don’t know how much they spent for my travelling. The only thing they asked me to do was to obtain my passport, which I borrowed money to do. After the payment, things got bad. Her mother started asking for her own percentage.

“Before I left Nigeria, she had taken my fingernails, pant and hair from my pubic areas. I didn’t want to give it to her, but the pastor said I would have to do it because that was the only way I could gain the mother’s trust. I succumbed and gave all those things to her.”

“After paying her daughter’s money, she madam’s mother) said I would have to give her $1,000 before she would return the things she collected from me. She threatened that if I didn’t pay her, something terrible would happen to me.

“I subsequently called my mum and told her everything. I later raised about N20, 000 and sent it to the pastor to give to her mother. After receiving it, she called and asked why I had to send her that kind of money. She said I should know that she is a family woman and that I should have sent the money in dollars. She then said I should send more money within a week or face the consequences.

“After that call, I started having series of issues and a problem with my face. I thought it was something I could easily handle but it defied all treatments. They drove me out of the place where I was working and also sent me parking from my apartment in Moscow.

“It was at that point I told my mum exactly what I was doing there. She started crying and asked why I didn’t tell her about it all along. I could not tell her because I had no telephone and was only permitted to speak for a minute on my madam’s phone.”

Asked how she eventually overcame the problem with her face, Florence said:

“It was when I returned to Nigeria that my face became okay. I sincerely don’t know-how.

“The pastor denied me when they arrested him. He said he could only remember that I was an ordinary member in the church. Later, he turned round and said I was the one who came to tell him I wanted to travel out because I was frustrated.

“He was charged to court by NAPTIP, which took me to their shelter when I returned. I didn’t know when they granted the pastor bail. They wrote an undertaking that if anything happened to me, he would be held responsible.”