Gang takes Nigerian girls to Dubai, records nude videos

The suspects

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.
PUNCH Metro 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.
Our 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.
The assistant Director, Press and Public Relations, NAPTIP,
Josiah Emerole, said the suspects would be charged to court,
adding that efforts were on to rescue the other victims of the
syndicate.
He said, “We call on all Nigerians to join hands with the agency
to nip in the bud human trafficking in the country.”
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