Stories on the different forms of human trafficking including prosti-tution with an international flavour have continued to rent the air and cover the pages of tabloids all over the world. With the various efforts to check the growth seemingly lost to the entrenched traffickers, RUTH CHOJI takes a look at a life of a returnee Nigerian prosti-tute from Italy.
Ehi Momoh, 27years old bends her head in shame and remorse. A returnee prosti-tute from Italy, Ehi reveals how she ended up as a prosti-tute” I was born to poor parents in Lampese, a village in Akoko-Edo Local Government Area of Edo State. My parents are farmers; life had always been difficult since childhood. We attended public schools where we sat on the bare floor because there were no chairs to sit on. We couldn’t afford the books demanded, three square meal was a big problem. That was my situation until Linda showed up.
Linda is my age mate and friend, that was until she travelled out of the country some years ago. Shortly after, all we heard and saw was that her mother was wearing new clothes, bags of rice being sent to her at regular intervals and her brother had resumed and going to school normally. Naturally my mother felt that I should follow her and make the money too. As her former classmate, I went to her house and begged her to connect me to whatever she was doing.
When she was leaving after her visit, Linda magnanimously took me along to Lagos to see an Alhaja in Ketu. The Alhaja laid the cards bare on the table for me to see and also reeled out the conditions under which she would sponsor me. I promised to abide by the conditions because I was desperate to go and make money. We were trained on how to please men, after which we were taken to one ‘Baba’ in a village just outside Lagos who administered some things on us, claiming them to be for ‘luck’.
Two months later, we set off by road, led by some men known as “trolleys” or handlers and are part of a syndicate of human traffickers as we later got to know. On our arrival in Italy, we were rushed because they saw us as being new and fresh, in fact, different. Alhaja ceased our passports and practically kept us caged. We were taken to where we met male clients and brought back after succumbing to their sexual demands as agreed by Alhaja through her henchmen. We were not allowed to collect money ourselves; they paid directly to Alhaja who in turn gives us money barely enough for our upkeep. Life in Italy is not a bed of roses. But I still made little money when a ‘good’ man gives me a tip.
I lived in Italy for two years until I paid back all the monies and accruing interests that Alhaja spent on sponsoring me before I started sending money home. I tried to improve the lives of my family by building a flat for them and also set my brothers up. That had been my life until I got sick four years ago and came back home. I didn’t need anyone to tell me what was wrong with me, because the symptoms were there. I knew I was HIV positive. I managed to hide it from people for quite a while and refused to go for treatment until I collapsed one day out there in Italy and my friend’s had to rush me to the hospital. That was when I decided to come back home. On getting home, I met that my father and mother had both died; at different times though, and when I tried to settle down and start a business, my elder brother who was in charge of my money, because I used to send everything through him and I gave him the money to build the house, claimed everything. He threw me out of the house, insulted me and called me an old prosti-tute. That was how I became homeless and heart broken.
My sickness grew worse and with no help form any quarters, a man of God linked me up with one Pastor Faith. Pastor Faith owns Refuge of Grace Foundation. Since then I have been living with her and have become part of the household and my health has been improving also.
Pastor Faith Indawe, the founder of ‘Sarai’ foundation for young ladies in Jos, Plateau State said, “most of the young girls lured into international prostit-ution come from poor homes. They are promised ‘heaven on earth’ and are enticed by what their neighbours and friends bring back after their induced ‘sex-escapade’ abroad. Some of the girls are homeless and these are the most vulnerable ones in the society. The victims are exploited not minding their ethnic and social background. Some are offered promises of marriage, employment, education, and a better life. The moment they get them to the foreign soil, they are forced to become prosti-tutes or work in the sex-related industries like pornography, strip clubs, outright prost-itution or as domestic helps.
“Victims of human trafficking are not permitted to leave upon arrival at their destination. They are held against their will through acts of coercion and forced to work or provide services to the trafficker or others. The work or services may include anything from bonded or forced labour to commercialised sexual exploitations. Most of the factors contributing to prosti-tution are the lack of job opportunities, the lack of education, and other non-economic issues such as, but not limited to low self-esteem. Parents must stop giving out their daughters to people for monetary gains. I also wish government will put in stringent laws that will punish these people who trick these girls into the nefarious trade”, Pastor Faith said.
Grace Oshombu, a legal practitioner who has been involved in fighting child abuse and labour stated that, “The illegal business of human trafficking is so big that, it involves international agents and brokers who arrange travel and job placements for women from different countries.
“Nigeria is a signatory to the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, often referred to as the Palermo Protocol. It was reported recently that, almost 200,000 Nigerians are illegal residents in Europe with about 100,000 of them in Italy alone. Trafficking in women from Nigeria is largely concentrated in the states of Edo, Rivers, Cross River, Benue and other states in the country.
No comments:
Post a Comment