At least ten Nigerian young girls, between the ages of 15 and 16, have been freed from prostitution and human trafficking by Nigerian authorities.
According to reports, the girls were coerced into prostitution after being drawn to Ghana on the promise of a better life. The parents of three of the victims are the same.
The individual who is the suspect, a Nigerian, has been taken into police custody after being arrested. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the Chairman of the Nigerian Diaspora Commission, claims that the girls were saved following a tip from NIDO, the umbrella organisation for Nigerians residing in Ghana.
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The victims allegedly confessed to being beaten, sexually assaulted, and coerced into prostitution without receiving payment.
They were allegedly unable to reach their parents because their phones had been confiscated. As one of the girls answered inquiries, she added,
They don’t give us money; they collect everything; they give us out to men.” Chief Callistus Elozieuwa, the NIDO Chairman, made a plea for assistance in order to guarantee the girls’ safe return to Nigeria.
Dabiri-Erewa, who described the situation as “very, very heartbreaking,” urged the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons to act decisively.
