How Traffickers Take Nigerian Girls To Dubai For 'Runs'

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The National Agency for the Prohibition of
Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has paraded
five suspected members of a human
trafficking syndicate.
The suspects, Blessing Gabriel, 25; Precious
Ejiro-Owoh 29; Rose Gabriel, 25; Priscilla
Bassey, 33 and Terry Smooth, 38, reportedly
confessed to have taken two Nigerian girls to
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to become
commercial sex workers and as well
record the girls’ nude videos while they were
taking oaths.
According to The Punch, the group was
busted by the agency on September 8, 2015,
and only one of their victims, simply
identified as Ann, has been rescued.
The trafficking syndicate after their arrest by
the officials of NAPTIP
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While Ann is at the NAPTIP office for
rehabilitation, the suspects are being
thoroughly drilled to provide information that
would lead to the arrest of other members of
the group.
Ann and Chisom, two of the trafficking
gang’s victims, were said to have fled Dubai
in August, a development which made the
syndicate put their nude visuals on the social
media.
Officials of the Lagos Zonal Command of
NAPTIP said it arrested Dubai-based Blessing
at the Agboroko village, Iba, Lagos, when she
sneaked into the country for a traditional
marriage. She confessed to have trafficked
Ann, authorities said.
Other gang members were also reportedly
arrested in the Lekki Phase 1 and Ajah areas,
while Blessing who stated that she worked
with a travel agency in Dubai, disclosed that
she got Ann as a commercial sex worker,
after sending N35,000 to Nigeria.
“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.
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“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,”
Blessing explained.
Precious, on her part, confessed to have
lured Ann to Dubai, but asked to be pardoned
as it was her first time of being involved in
the trafficking business.
According to Joseph Famakin, the NAPTIP
Lagos director, the nude video was released
on Youtube after Ann escaped from the ring.
He said the girls had been forced to swear to
oaths.
Famakin stated: “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.
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“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.”
It was also gathered that other members of
the syndicate in Dubai; Gina, Fegor Ebony
Ejeba, and Nicole Esther Otubu, are still being
trailed by the NAPTIP officers.
Confirming the case, Josiah Emerole, the
assistant Director, press and public relations,
NAPTIP, said the suspects would be charged
to court, adding that “We call on all Nigerians
to join hands with the agency to nip in the
bud human trafficking in the country.”