We use cookies on this website. By continuing to use this site without changing your cookie settings, you agree that you are happy to accept our privacy policy and for us to access our cookies on your device.
Transcript/ScriptFOR USAGM SHARE
((PLAYBOOK SLUG: Nigeria Sex Trafficking Women (TV)
HEADLINE: Nigerian Women Also Involved in Sex Trafficking of Women, Say Authorities
TEASER:
PUBLISHED AT: Wednesday, 02/23/2022 at 5:40 am
BYLINE: Timothy Obiezu
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Abuja, Nigeria
VIDEOGRAPHER: Emeka Gibson
VIDEO EDITOR:
PRODUCER:
SCRIPT EDITORS: BR, MAS
VIDEO SOURCE (S): All VOA
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _x_ RADIO __
TRT: 3:38
VID APPROVED BY: wpm
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITORS NOTE: ))
((INTRO))
[[Nigerian women make up one of the largest groups of international sex trafficking victims, according to UN agencies, but women also are among the perpetrators of this crime. Timothy Obiezu has this report from Abuja on the women who exploit other women and the activists trying to stop them.]]
((NARRATOR))
In 2014, Latifa Ayodele was invited by a female relative to travel to Malaysia to further her studies. But the life-changing opportunity she imagined nearly destroyed her.
We are not using her real name to protect her identity.
When Ayodele arrived in Libya after an arduous journey, she was taken by a madam and forced into prostitution.
(“Latifa Ayodele”, Formerly Trafficked Woman)) ((In English))
"They called (it) hilux, it's in those hilux that they now arranged us inside at the back. Twenty-four people sat at the back and the inside eight people, we just folded ourselves inside like that. The woman took another hilux so that we cannot ask her any question."
((NARRATOR))
James never got to Malaysia but remained in Libya working as a sex slave for four years until she was able to escape.
Nigeria's National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) says nearly half the suspects arrested for human trafficking in 2019 were women – usually older women known as madams who lure and traffic other women.
Josiah Emerole heads NAPTIP’s intelligence arm.
((Josiah Emerole, NAPTIP Intelligence Director)) ((In English))
"Everybody is actually involved, both men and women but when you look at the international dimension which has to do mostly with sexual exploitation, you'll discover that it is mostly the madams, the women who are the main perpetrators. But they also use the men to take these people away"
((NARRATOR))
Esther Okafor – also not her real name - was trafficked to Libya.
After nearly two years as a sex slave, she managed to escape to a Catholic church where she was rescued by the International Organization for Migration and repatriated to Nigeria.
But she was already five months pregnant.
((“Esther Okafor”, Formerly Trafficked Woman)) ((In English))
"In Libya, abortion is like a crime, you can go to prison for it. Besides, I was not financially stable to have an abortion. // Sometimes when I look at her, I cry. ”
((NARRATOR))
NAPTIP says it is difficult to determine the exact number of sex trafficking cases in Nigeria because so many go unreported.
But a non-profit group started by a former NAPTIP director enables victims to report issues of trafficking and other forms of gender-based violence.
((Julie Okah-Donlie, Roost Foundation)) ((In English ))
"We refer cases like that to NAPTIP for criminal litigation cases where it's possible to get their traffickers. But sometimes the victims do not even know who their traffickers are, they can't give you any information and so we just give them psychosocial support and empower them.”
((NARRATOR))
Experts say victims like James and Bello will suffer psychological scars from their ordeals for the rest of their lives.
((Timothy Obiezu, for VOA News, Abuja Nigeria))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Embargo DateFebruary 23, 2022 05:43 EST
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
