Lebanese promised me $2,000 monthly salary — Trafficked woman

Operatives of the Lagos State Command of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) have arrested a Lebanese who hoodwinked and trafficked a mother of three to Lebanon after promising her a whooping monthly salary of $2000.

The victim, simply identified as Olayide, said the suspect told her that she would be going there to take care of his aged mother.

However, when she got there, she met an entirely different situation.

The 34-year-old woman explained that she was repeatedly sexually harassed by her madam’s grown sons and moved from one job to another.

She also alleged that she was repeatedly hungry and only allowed to eat left overs and sometimes will take just Lipton Tea with bread.

She had only worked for four months when she realised that if she didn’t leave, she would die.

Ironically, the mouth-watering salary, which made her to accept the job and embarked on the trip, was never paid for once.

Indeed, when Olayide was leaving Lebanon, she was given $600 to cover the four months she had worked for the suspect at the Nigerian Embassy.

The victim, who was trafficked out of Nigeria in October, returned on February 2.

She said: “I was moved from one job to another.

“I was moved five times.

“I was even moved to where I worked as a bricklayer.

“I worked like a slave in Lebanon.

“The housemaid work he told me about was a lie.

“I was not given good food.”

The Lebanese national, however, denied all the allegations levelled on him by Olayide, stressing that he only rendered her assistance to better her life.

The NAPTIP Lagos State Commander, Daniel Atokolo, said at the International Organisation for Migration’s Ikeja, Lagos State Office that the victim was trafficked by a 54-year-old Lebanese in October.

Atokolo said: “NAPTIP in response to a complaint by the victim’s husband, on January 30, arrested the Lebanese national who is a resident here in Lagos.

“Fact of the case so far reveal that the suspect had trafficked the victim on the pretence of employing her as a caregiver to his aged mother in Lebanon.

“On arrival, the victim was reported to have been received by an agent, who handed her over to a family where she was exploited as a domestic servant.

“When the victim’s husband approached the suspect, asking him to return his wife, the Lebanese national demanded that the victim would only be returned if the family provides another to replace her.”

According to Atokolo, another case NAPTIP was handling is the arrest of two women, Juliet and Chioma, for selling and buying of a day-old-baby.

The baby belonged to a physically challenged woman.

The baby was bought for N350,000 from the alleged sister of the mentally unbalanced woman.

Atokolo stated: “The current facts of the case indicate that this is the fifth time this helpless mother would lose her children to the greed of the people and sad situations around her.

“Many might argue that this is possibly in the best interest of the children, but the agency calls on Nigerians to please explore legal means of adoption as purchase or sale of babies is a crime that is punishable by law.

“The illegal avenues also avail unscrupulous elements the opportunity to exploit both helpless young women and their young infants even for ungodly activities such as rituals.”

The 45-year-old suspect, who bought the baby, said she had been married for 10 years without a baby.

The lack of baby was affecting her marriage, leading her to a friend to ask about adopting a baby.

The friend took her to the sister of the mentally challenged woman.

She paid N350,000 for the baby and would later be arrested.