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.
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