Parents of three girls from Ekiti State who were allegedly given three slots to travel to Dubai but ended in a slave camp in Libya are demanding the safe return of their children.
They made the call on Thursday at the State Police Command where a suspect who facilitated their trip, Dada Ogundare, was paraded.
According to The Nation,Ogundare was paraded alongside a prophetess, Omoseeke Komolafe, who collected money from their parents and gave same to the trafficking suspect.
The suspects claimed that they only assisted the young ladies, one of whom was pregnant, to seek employment outside the country not knowing that they would end up as slaves.
The victims left Nigeria on November 25 by road rather than by air as they were promised that they were going to Dubai only to be taken to Libya where they were sold as slaves.
The parents explained that they later made attempt to bring their children back home but the traffickers in Libya demanded N1.2 million from them.
One of the parents, Mrs. Margaret Olorunfemi, revealed that she and Prophetess Komolafe are members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the same ward with deputy governor in Ikere-Ekiti.
Mrs. Olorunfemi disclosed that Prophetess Komolafe told her daughter that the deputy governor has been given four slots to be given to children of party members in his ward to travel to Dubai adding that they were told to make N150,000 available to facilitate the trip.
The woman said she was worried when she did not hear from her daughter. According to her, she was able to speak with her daughter on December 10 who told her that she was in a slave camp in Libya.
Mrs Olorunfemi said:
“My child called that the prophetess had sold her into slavery that we should go and meet the deputy governor that we should get N1.2 million before they can be freed from slavery.”
Another Ikere woman whose daughter was trapped in Libyan slave camp, Mrs. Feyisayo Adedayo, revealed that her daughter is pregnant.
She said:
“My daughter, Ayomiotan, spoke with me on the phone that they went through the desert and not by flight as they were promised.
“I don’t have N1.2 million to send to them to free my daughter. The (Ekiti State) government should return my daughter to me with her pregnancy.
“She (daughter) is my only girl and my last born; I reported the case at the police station in Ikere. I want my daughter back because I don’t want her to die in a slave camp.”
Another parent of Libya slavery from Ikere, Mrs. Bukola Bamise said she was shocked to learn that her daughter had been sold as a slave.
She said:
“It was the deputy governor that said he wanted to use the four slots given to his ward to benefit our children but I was shocked to learn that they were camped somewhere and they had been sold as slaves.”
The suspected trafficker, Ogundare, told reporters that she contacted the prophetess to help her find girls interested in jobs in Libya. He claimed he didn’t collect money from the victims.
Ogundare explained that his wife and younger sister are in Libya added that she told the prophetess to inform the girls’ parents of their destination.
He said:
I didn’t collect One Naira from anybody, I have so far taken four persons to Libya while madam (prophetess) had taken nine persons to Libya.
The Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Mr Julius Okoro, warned parents against allowing their children embark on questionable trips.
He said:
“The girls were trafficked to Libya on the pretext that they were taking them to Dubai. Information reached their parents that they are suffering and they had been sold out in the slave camp in Libya.
“One of the girls trafficked to Libya is pregnant but was rejected by those buying them because of her pregnancy. We understand that they are suffering seriously in Libya.
“Our advice to parents is that they should be careful of those they entrust their children to. Let them be careful and be sure of the persons they are handing over their children to.”
When called for his reaction, Director of Press Affairs to the Deputy Governor, Mr. Oyetunde Oyebode, promised to get back on the matter. He was yet to react at the time of filing this report.
Emeh Achanga,the CEO of the Miss Petite Nigeria Brand is a lawyer turned blogger. She is very passionate about writing, with several publications and awards to her credit .She is currently working on publishing a collection of short stories which are basically a memoir about her exciting true experiences.
