Lured Abroad, Sold into Slavery: The hidden reality of Nigerian women in human trafficking networks

“When I arrived in Egypt, the agency that sponsored me confiscated my passport to ensure I couldn’t leave. I was paid 8,000 Egyptian pounds per month, but 7,500 pounds went directly to the agency. I was only allowed access to 500 pounds for myself. I worked from morning to night cleaning, cooking, looking after the children. I barely got any rest. I wasn’t allowed to sleep at night because I had to look after the baby. The only time I was allowed to sleep was from 5am to 9am only four hours of rest. a day.

“Since March 9, I have been sick, and I don’t know what exactly is wrong with me. I often feel sharp pain in my lower abdomen. I told my sponsor about the pain, but instead of showing concern, my sponsor told me that I should not use his (sponsor’s) money for treatment. He told me that I should finish my payment before seeking medical help. To date, I have only paid for 8 months, with 18 months remaining.

Apanise Toyosi, a 27-year-old Nigerian woman, was also tricked into Libya with the promise of a job as a fashion designer. He left his two precious children behind, hoping to provide a better life for them. But his dream quickly turned into a nightmare. It was packaged with raw food, hidden from view, and smuggled out of Nigeria. The drivers transporting her demanded sex, and when she refused, they abandoned her at a remote animal shelter. Without food or water, he was forced to sleep with the animals.

“But my ordeal was far from over. In the middle of the night, three men armed with machetes and guns attacked me. They stabbed me repeatedly, raped me, and left me for dead. I endured 34 days of unimaginable horror before reaching Libya. Upon arrival in Libya, I thought my suffering was finally over.

“However, my ordeal continued as I was forced to hand over my entire salary to the agency for more than a year, and still had a month left. Against my will, I was hired as a caregiver for the elderly, subjected to inhumane treatment, and left to endure the traumatic experience of urinating and vomiting,” he said.

Despite perceptions, human traffickers are rarely foreigners

Professor Fatima Waziri-Azi, an anti-trafficking expert and former director general of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Human Trafficking (NAPTIP) confirmed that human traffickers often approach young women with seemingly legitimate job offers such as well-paid domestic work, modelling, caregiving or hospitality roles. In some cases, they even promise scholarships or vocational training opportunities in Europe, the Middle East, and other African countries.

“The agency has handled cases where friends, colleagues, innocent bystanders, relatives, neighbors, and even former victims who became recruiters were responsible for trafficking victims.