At least 10 teenage Nigerian girls around the ages of 15 and 16 have been rescued after they were trafficked to Ghana for prostitution.
The Chairman, of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, NiDCOM, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, confirmed this in a video posted on her verified X, formerly Twitter.
Credible News gathered that the girls were rescued, after a tip-off, by NIDO – the umbrella body of all Nigerians living in Ghana and an arm of the NiDCOM.
At least three of the victims are siblings from the same parents. According to one of them, the suspect traded them for sex without paying them, adding that they could not contact their parents because the suspect seized their phones.
The suspect, a yet-to-be-identified Nigerian man, who has now been arrested molested and trafficked the victims, as disclosed by the Chairman of NIDO, Chief Callistus in the now-viral video.
The girls, most of whom were below the official Nigerian adult age disclosed their identity to be Imo and Plateau states.
One of the unnamed girls pointed to the other, stating that it was her brother who brought them to Ghana for prostitution.
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When asked hoe they were brought to Ghana and what they were asked to do, one of the girls responded by saying “they give us out to men, and they don’t give us money; they collect everything.”
The chief said, “see our children in diaspora, 15 years old, children that are supposed to be in school, these are the great future of Nigeria in diaspora, three children from same father and mother in Imo state.”
Reacting to the post on her personal X.com page, Mrs Dabiri-Erewa called on the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons to take decisive follow-up actions.
She wrote, “These are young girls trafficked to Ghana for prostitution. We thank Chief Callistus, Chairman, NIDO Ghana for ensuring the arrest of the evil perpetrator. I am sure @naptipnigeria will follow up; very, very heartbreaking.”
“These are young girls trafficked to Ghana for prostitution,” she quoted a viral video showing the girls. “We thank Chief Callistus, Chairman, NIDO Ghana, for ensuring the arrest of the evil perpetrator. I am sure NAPTIP will follow up, very heartbreaking.”
In a follow-up post, Dabiri-Erewa said another set of girls have been rescued. “The culprit will be charged to court in Ghana next week and arrangements being made to bring the rescued girls back to Nigeria,” she wrote, insisting that traffickers must be named and shamed.
“They are worse than drug barons! And as long as they are walking about freely, innocent young children will continue to be trafficked!,” she added.
Credible News.ng
