In 2018, a lady trafficked from Kano to Oman reached out to me seeking help. The agent offered them a job in Saudi Arabia. Given every Muslim’s eagerness to visit the Holy Land, she didn’t hesitate to accept saying, “If nothing, I’d be honoured with a visit to the Prophet (SAW)”.

On getting to Lagos, the agent collected her and other victims’ passports and never returned them until they got to departure. He didn’t show them the tickets either. They first landed somewhere she thinks was Cairo and then flew to another country that they’re told was Saudi.

It took them days to discover that it wasn’t Saudi, by which time they had each been handed over to their “master”. Hers was a nasty man with a cruel wife and son. She would work like a donkey in the daytime while being beaten by the woman. At night, the father and son raped her.

On nights the father didn’t tiptoe to her room, his son would crawl in. Sometimes, one invaded and violated her after the other. In the morning, the men would maltreat her like shit and the woman would ill-use her like an unwanted dog. At the end of the month, the agent got paid.

Few months into this slavery, she luckily laid her hand on a phone, which she’d been denied by the master-rapist who’s also retaining her passport. She contacted the Nigerian agent, crying & demanding to return home. He said that’s impossible as he’s spent a lot of money on them.

When she persisted, he stopped answering her calls. She thus contacted someone in Kano who informed me and asked my permission to send her my number. She sent me voice messages on WhatsApp explaining what happened. It sounded like a badly written story except that it’s very real.

She said they’re in Oman but didn’t know where in Oman. I asked her to share her location via WhatsApp, I discovered that she’s in Bahla, a town 200km from the capital. I messaged Nigeria’s then Ambassador to Algeria, a fine man I met in June 2018 at a conference in Algiers.

The man swung into action. He contacted his counterparts in Oman. We worked together and a few weeks later, Aisha and other victims returned home, after months of unbelievable violation, pain and humiliation. I contacted her a few weeks later to help work with me to go after...

...the co-conspirators in Nigeria so others could be saved, but she couldn’t. She’s terrified that they could harm her. They’re rich, more connected & can do anything! I didn’t insist because I know Nigeria & didn’t want to expose her to danger when I ain’t around to do my best.

The point of this thread is that trafficking still happens in the north, where victims are mostly taken to the Middle East. Even just before Covid I heard stories of victims. Their lack of education/exposure is exploited. Saudi Arabia is the country mostly peddled by criminals.

Watch out! Don’t let your family, friend or neighbour fall victim. I still have Aisha’s distraught pictures and voice from Oman. I’ll someday do an enlightenment program on Freedom or other radio stations to explain this InshaAllah. We’ll play parts of her voice if she permits.