They were promised good lives, assured they would attend the best schools, eat and dine with the whites and that they would be well taken care of, little did they know what awaited them in the overseas is nothing short of slavery; the modern slavery, to be sold into prostitution, drug dealing, being handed over to a PIMP. and made to work odd hours and some may never even set eyes on their fatherland again.
April is a 16 year old girl who had experienced child trafficking, she narrated the story of her ordeal with tears in her eyes, it all started when she was 14 years old. Her original name was Nye and she’s from Edo state. Although, she was living with her aunt in Lagos state before fate played a wrong card on her, and it appeared in disguise, like it was a blessing.
It was with joy that April’s mother came to Lagos state from Benin City, to give her what she sees as wonderful news. One of the “abroad babes” as they were popularly called had paid her a visit, telling her that she had seen how much she suffers over her children and she would love to help her by taking one of her children to the overseas. Mama was overjoyed and didn’t bother to ask what kind of job, she readily suggested one of her sons but the lady said a girl would be better because they are well paid.
Little did mama know that the “good news” she brought to her 14 year old daughter on that fateful day would be the event that would lead her daughter into a life of lost innocence, of prostitution and abuse of various kinds. She gave her sister (April’s aunt) the news and told them she would have to take April with her because the lady has said she would be travelling as soon as possible.
April narrated how her ordeal began as soon as she realized that they were not travelling by air, rather by road and by sea, she found herself amidst girls her age mates, some older by a year or two, and some younger than she was. They were packed unto the back of a tarpaulin-covered lorry and they never saw the road they were passing through, the lorry never stopped for any of them to ease themselves, rather, a hole was made at the center and that’s where any of them feeling pressed would answer the call to nature.
She said, after about two days on the road, they reached a seaport, and they were all transferred unto a vessel of a wrecked ship, there they spent another two days before they were finally transferred into a container to be shipped to God knows where. They were fed once daily and given a bottle of water each, for a day.
April never set her eyes on the Lady that took her away from home. They spent about a month before getting to their destination and they all looked tattered and filthy by the time they got there. They simply found themselves in a different seaport with white people working around them, no one paid them any attention and they were quietly ushered unto another lorry and taken to a warehouse, they hadn’t taken their bath for more than a month and they were all filthy and famished, some of them had gotten severely sick.
She explained further that shortly after they got to the warehouse, they were being divided, the sick ones were taken to an unknown destination and the others were grouped in fives, it was then April realized they were about one hundred of them with almost twenty six severely sick among them, vans started arriving and they were taken in fives to different destinations.
April found herself in a hotel room with her four other group members, she was lucky she was grouped with a girl she’d grown fond of while on their journey, they were age mates and they became fast friends from the early stage of their passage. They were given fairly proper clothes and asked to clean up for they were soon to meet with their boss.
She continued that after about two hours, they all felt refreshed and one of their handlers came to get them, they were taken in another van to a house where they met their boss Mr. X. He was a fat, huge and fierce looking man, he addressed them like adults and didn’t bother to ask their names, he simply gave them new names and told them what is required of them in their new jobs.
April revealed that that was how she came about the name “April”, she never knew where she was until that moment, she and others only knew they were in a white man's land, their boss informed them that they were in Italy and all they have to do, to earn food on their table daily was to dress nice and entice clients. The girls didn't understand they were to become prostitutes and even at times deliver drugs, not until a bag full of skimpy little dresses was brought in and they were all asked to pick two clothes each.
They were asked to dress up in order to be scrutinized by their boss whether they reached the standard he wanted, after he was satisfied by their looks he told them they would be starting work on that same night and a Mr. M was introduced to them as their monitor. Their new Monitor ushered them out of the house and they were taken back to the hotel room.
The 16 year old girl said she lived a life of physical and psychological abuse, a life of drug dealing and poor diet for close to two years, but on one fateful day, some immigration officers were rounding up sex workers and she was picked amongst them, before she knew it, she found herself in Nigeria and some NGO officers were at the airport, there they picked her and asked her some questions about her family, they then contacted her aunt who helped them reached her Mama.
Her joy knew no bounds as she was glad she'll be reconciling with her “mama”, even though its not a bed of rose that awaits her at home and the stigma of her past two years would haunt her every step for almost forever.
Story written by Mar'yam Thawbaan
