The quest of two young ladies to leave the shores of Nigeria to seek jobs abroad almost turned sour as they were reportedly turned, virtually, in to slaves until their rescue by the Oyo State Police Command.
This was the experience of one Biola Daramola (26) and Taiwo Christiana Ajayi (29), who returned to Nigeria late on Thursday through the efforts of the Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Muhammad Katsina after spending 11 and 18 days respectively in Kuwait as what they tagged slaves.
Arrested in connection with the case is one Pastor Victor Adelaja who was accused of giving false promises of decent jobs to the ladies, only for them to discover they had been sold. Ajayi left Nigeria on April 20 while Daramola left on April 25.
Speaking on what he tagged the arrest of international human traffickers, Katsina told Crime Reports that the head of the trafficking ring was Pastor Adelaja (39) whom he said claimed to be a pastor and was dismissed from a bank, with his case ongoing at the EFCC.
“Pastor Adelaja and his group established a fraudulent travel agency in Nigeria with a web of agents in other parts of the world, especially Kuwait. He used the sanctity of the church to deceive and mislead unsuspecting members of the public by promising mouth-watering job opportunities such as oil and gas, banking, nursing and teaching.
“The ladies left Nigeria but were met at the airport by one Ibrahim who told them they were in Kuwait for a two-year job contract. In order to ensure that he limited their movement and prevented their escape, he seized their documents. Ibrahim took them to a place where they met ladies from other parts of Africa.
“He kept them in solitary confinement and denied them the freedom of communication. They were made to do energy-sapping work without food.
“That was the scenario until my ambush squad got the vital information and we commenced their protection and rescue. My operatives went to receive them at MMIA at about 10.30p.m on Thursday, having monitored the movement of the aircraft from Kuwait. They were rushed to Police Clinic where they underwent post-trauma counseling,” Katsina said.”
Narrating her experience, one of the victims, Daramola told Crime Reports: “Before I left Nigeria, Pastor Laja told me that I was going to work in an office in Kuwait. But on getting to Kuwait, I was told that I would be a housemaid for two years. And the agent never told me that. The agent that bought us from Nigeria is an Ethiopian called Ibrahim who works in Kuwait. He took me to his office, after which he took me to Madam’s house. House helps are called Kadamas in Kuwait.
“I was made to clean all the apartments on all the floors of a three-storey building, after which I would be fed with the leftovers of her mistress just once in a day.
“When the work became too stressful, I told Ibrahim that I wanted to return to Nigeria but he responded by locking me up with some other girls. We were many there. There were some from Ghana, Sierra Leone and Cameroun. We were not allowed to go out and we could not make calls. It was a kind of slavery.
“When I insisted I wanted to return to Nigeria, he said I would have to pay him the money he used to purchase me which is about N350,000. I was crying one day when a man saw me. He asked me the number of days I had stayed and I told him it was a week. He said if I found the Kadama work too hard, I should opt for prostitution to pay the agent’s money.
“I called a friend of mine in Osogbo and she gave me the number of a police officer. I sent a text message to the number, asking for help. That was how the police came to my rescue. ”
But Pastor Adelaja punctured the ladies’ arguments, saying that they were informed that they were going to work as house helps temporarily until they would get a stay permit which would aid getting a white collar job.
“Our business is study, work and live abroad. The first lady, Biola Daramola was brought to me by her mother through one Honourable while the second person is my church member. I introduced different packages I had. She chose the Kuwait package because she could not afford others. The package is for her to work in Kuwait.
“I got my contact in Kuwait, Kehinde through my friend, Lanre, with whom I attended the same school. The last time I saw Lanre was about 18 years ago. They are both in Kuwait. I got them through the internet. They told me there were job opportunities for females in Kuwait and the job is categorized as general helper.
I got travelling documents for the ladies from Kuwait. I sent their details, application forms and international passport to Kehinde in Kuwait and he sent them back with visas and tickets.
“Before these ladies left Nigeria, I sat them down and explained to them they were going to do househelp job for six months so that they would be able to get permits. I guess that why they changed their minds about staying there was that the job they met there was beyond their capacity.”
It was disclosed that Pastor Adelaja was a former staff of Skye Bank where he worked as Branch Service Manager. He confirmed that he was dismissed over a financial issue which was related to mismanagement of fund under his capacity. He said the case was still on-going at the EFCC which made them seize his international passport.
“I have helped a lot of people to travel to study, migrate or work abroad. I have about 480 files in my office. I have been in the business since 2010 but I faced it squarely in 2013 after my dismissal from bank job,” Adelaja stated.
He also said that his former secretary was the first person who hinted him that the job in Kuwait was a hard one which made him to modify his write-up on it for his clients. “I don’t know Ibrahim; maybe he was working under Kehinde,” he said.
“I worked for seven days in the first place I was taken to. When the job was too tedious for me, I was taken to Saudi Arabia to work with a woman in a storey building. The woman treated me like a slave as I was told to take care of the big mansion alone. I worked in the house from morning till 10p.m., after which she said I should start ironing. I told her I could not do it; that I would continue the following day. The next, I started cleaning the house again and she did not offer me any food till 2p.m.”
She advised all those proposing to travel out of Nigeria to do proper findings before going, saying that her failure to do this turned her into a victim.
Source:Tribune
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