A human trafficking
syndicate which comprises of five suspected members were arrested by the
National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP.
They recorded
the girls’ nude videos while they were taking oaths, another confessed to
taking two Nigerian girls to Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, to become
commercial sex workers.
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.”
Punch
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