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| Gift in in Ouagadougou Photo: Simon Ateba |
A Nigerian girl who was trafficked to the West African country of Burkina Faso has been found dead barely a month after an investigative report exposed the awful conditions she and other Nigerian girls are subjected to in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso.
Our correspondent, Ateba, travelled to Ouagadougou in early January to unravel the booming human trafficking business in the landlocked country.
What he discovered was a sophisticated human trafficking ring that takes girls from Nigeria with false promises of making their lives better in Europe via Burkina Faso.
The victim, known as Gift, was sold the same promises but ended up working as a sex slave in ‘Bar Dancing Petit Ouaga’, a brothel in Toudoubweogo village in Ouagadougou.
Our correspondent met her on 12 January this year during his investigation but she was found dead mid February.
Gift who hails from Edo state in Nigeria, narrated how she had travelled with someone for three days to get to Burkina Faso in April 2014.
But, instead of going straight to Ouagadougou, she travelled to Dori where gold is being mined manually. Dori is about 271 kilometres from Ouagadougou.
She claimed she was 18 years old but she appeared younger than that. Most girls who are trafficked are taught to say they are 18 years and above.
During the conversation with our correspondent, Gift expressed hope that once she has paid the traffickers some money, she would be free to move on with her life.
But she died a week ago, two activists said, as many other trafficked Nigerian girls who have died there far away from their family members, and not close to their dream lives.
See for Ateba’s reportage on “Human Trafficking: The Burkina Faso Ring” (http://thenewsnigeria.com.ng/2015/02/09/human-trafficking-the-burkina-faso-ring/)
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