How 24 Nigerian Girls and Women Rescued from Exploitation in Senegal
A joint effort between the Nigerian Embassy in Dakar and a Senegalese non-governmental organization has led to the rescue of 24 Nigerian girls and women from sexual exploitation in the Tamaccounda and Kedougou regions of Senegal.
Acting Ambassador Salihu Abubakar of the Nigerian Embassy in Dakar disclosed this information to the News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday. He explained that the victims, mostly girls and young women aged 11 to 24, were trafficked to Senegal through Cotonou, Benin Republic, and the Mali-Senegal border for sexual exploitation.
“These girls and many others are being trafficked to Senegal through Cotonou, Benin Republic via Mali to the Senegal border for prostitution,” Abubakar stated.
Preliminary investigations revealed that most of the rescued individuals were school dropouts from Edo and Delta states, with a few others hailing from Imo, Abia, and two from Plateau. Out of the 24 rescued, 22 were repatriated weeks earlier, while the remaining two returned safely to Nigeria on Saturday.
Details about the victims’ health status and the length of their exploitation were not disclosed. However, Abubakar emphasized that the successful rescue and repatriation underscore the effective international collaboration between the embassy and the NGO “Free the Slaves” (La Lumiere in French) in fighting human trafficking.
“Our main goal and number one priority is to discourage the trafficking of our Nigerian girls to any part of the world for prostitution under any guise,” Abubakar affirmed.
