Five suspected members of a human trafficking ring, paraded
by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP,
have confessed to taking two Nigerian girls to Dubai, the United Arab Emirates,
to become commercial sex workers.
They also admitted that they recorded the girls’ nude videos
while they were taking oaths.
It was learnt that the suspects ─ Blessing Gabriel, 25;
Precious Ejiro-Owoh, 29; Rose Gabriel, 25; Priscilla Bassey, 33; and
38-year-old Terry Smooth ─ were apprehended by the agency on September 8, 2015,
while one of their victims, identified only as Ann, had been rescued.
Punch correspondent gathered that while Ann was being
rehabilitated at the NAPTIP office, the suspects were assisting the officials
with information to arrest the fleeing members of the syndicate.
It was learnt that two of the victims of the syndicate, Ann
and Chisom, had fled from Dubai in August, making the gang to put their nude
visuals on the social media.
The visuals, which showed the girls swearing to oaths of
allegiance, were said to have been sent to the agency.
Our correspondent gathered that the Lagos Zonal Command
officials of NAPTIP on Tuesday, September 8, arrested Dubai-based Blessing, who
confessed to have trafficked Ann.
It was learnt that the lady, who reportedly sneaked into the
country for a traditional marriage, was arrested at the Agboroko village, Iba
area of Lagos.
It was also learnt that the officials arrested other gang
members in the Lekki Phase 1 and Ajah areas.
Blessing, who claimed that she worked with a travel agency
in Dubai, told PUNCH Metro that she sent N35,000 to bring Ann from Nigeria as a
commercial sex worker in Dubai.
The suspect claimed that the arrangement was with the
consent of the victim.
She said, “I did not know the victim from anywhere. Gina,
who has not yet been arrested, is my friend in Dubai. She was the one who told
me that she needed a girl from Nigeria to do “runs”. I then told Precious, my
Nigerian friend, to get me someone.
“Gina sent N35,000 to prepare the girl that would be
brought. That was in July. So, it happened that the girl, Ann, was brought to
Dubai. I personally went to pick her from the airport.
“When she came to Gina, the girl was taken inside a room,
stripped and asked to say an oath. I was not there; I was not the person that
stripped her. She did the job for about a month before she fled from Dubai.
“I knew they were bringing her for commercial sex; and she
was also aware. She told Precious that she was ready to travel out of the
country and do any kind of work.”
Precious, who confessed to luring the girl to travel to
Dubai, pleaded that it was her first time to deal in trafficking of persons.
The NAPTIP Lagos director, Joseph Famakin, said the nude
video was released on the Youtube, after Ann escaped from the ring, adding that
the syndicate also forced the girls to swear to oaths.
He said, “The victim was recruited from Lagos for Blessing,
who was in Dubai. Blessing was responsible for her travel expenses. The process
of preparing her for Dubai was coordinated by Blessing’s sister, Rose Gabriel.
“On arrival in Dubai, the oath was forcefully administered
on her, and it was recorded on video. This recording was later released on
Youtube after she escaped from her exploiters in Dubai. She was forced into
prostitution contrary to the initial promise of being given a job at a hair
dressing saloon.”
Our correspondent learnt that other members of the
trafficking ring in Dubai ─ Gina, Fegor Ebony Ejeba, and Nicole Esther Otubu ─
were still at large, and efforts were on to track them down.
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