We were flogged mercilessly for refusing prostitution - Libyan returnee

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) received another batch of 116 Nigerians who volunteered to be repatriated back to Nigeria from Libya.

They arrived at the Cargo Wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos State, late hour Wednesday via Al Buraq Air Boeing 737 Aircraft with flight number UZ 188/26 and registration number 5A-DMG-MJI.

One of the returnees, who identified herself as Sola Adeleke, 38 years old, appealed to the Federal Government to deal decisively with human traffickers who mislead Nigerians with fake information on greener pastures outside the country.

Adeleke, an indigene of Ibadan, Oyo State, said that the traffickers subjected their victims to inhuman treatment they would never expose their own children to.

The returnee, narrating her ordeal, said she dropped out of school at primary four, adding that her mother approached a neighbour who was known to be helping young people out of the country.

“The man told my mother that he would help me to get good job and that I don’t need to pay a dime in Nigeria, but until l start work for a year,” she said.

Adeleke, a mother of five, said her husband was not treating her well and they had to divorce, after which she returned to her mother.

She said it was hardship being experienced that made her mother to decide that she should follow the man (trafficker).

”My inability to communicate in English changed everything negatively as soon l got to Libya in 2016, as the well-known nice man (trafficker) turned out to be something different.

“He (trafficker) told me that I will work for him for one and half years without giving me a dime to take care of my feeding or anything.

“In Libya, once a lady gets there, the traffickers force her into prostitution, and if she refuses, there is a place that she would be taken to be flogged mercilessly.

”And by the time she survives the punishment, she would beg to prostitute freely for the trafficker to get his money, which is faster than being a housemaid.

“I will never advise anyone to travel to Libya or anywhere because the people are evil.

“l paid the man more than N1 million without bringing anything back. My children had suffered enough and l have returned to take care of them,” she said.