- Claims she was a virgin when she got to Europe
Her desire to fend for her mother and her eight siblings drove her into a situation she had never imagined she could find herself!
The then 19-year-old Betty Ogbemudia had thought she had found an escape route from the abject poverty her father’s sudden death had thrown her entire family, when her landlord, who has since died, offered to help her get to what she had erroneously thought would be a greener pasture in Europe.
How it all began
Oblivious of the fact that she was being handed over to a ferocious human trafficking and prostitution syndicate, she jumped at the opportunity to travel to Europe. But she never bargained for the kind of treatment she got upon her arrival at the Ercan International Airport in Northern Cyprus on June 3, 2015. While picking her up at the airport, her traffickers immediately seized her passport and other documents in her possession.
Recounting her ordeal in an encounter with our correspondent, Ogbemudia said, “I am a victim of human trafficking, I hail from Edo State, Nigeria. I am the fifth of nine children. Growing up in the village in Benin, things were so tough. My parents had no major source of income and we only lived on farming. The situation became worse, when I lost my dad in 2011 to the cold hands of death and my mother was left to cater for her nine children alone.
“When the opportunity came for me to travel abroad, I didn’t bother to ask questions. I thought God had answered my prayers of being able to get education and cater for my poor mother and siblings. I got a contact through my landlord, Mr. Felix Edebiri, who promised to help me travel to Europe. I was only 19 then.
Arrival in Europe
“On June 3, 2015, I arrived at Ercan International Airport in North Cyprus and was picked up by my supposed helper (trafficker), Jennifer Osayuki Odubor, and her mother, Regina Odubor. At the airport, my passport was immediately seized from me along with other school documents I had.”
It was at this point that it dawned on her that she was in for something sinister and completely different from what she had thought and made to believe by her supposed benefactors, who facilitated her travel from Nigeria!
Forced into prostitution
“My traffickers took me to their house, where I met two other girls, who were trafficked. My nails and hair were cut off and were used for an oath-taking ritual. I was threatened that if I ever reported to the police I would get deported and killed in Nigeria,” she recalled.
Ogbemudia then began her sojourn as a prostitute in a foreign land working and making money for a “madam.” The young girl, who had arrived in Europe as a virgin, no sooner became an unwilling hostess to men, as she had to sleep with many clients every night to meet the target set for her by her traffickers. She was not spared this ‘daily chore’ even when observing her monthly menstruation. What mattered to her ‘Madam’ was the revenue she generated on a daily basis. Thus, her trafficker would force her to block the flow of blood with cotton wool. While this nightmare lasted, she was abused, beaten and raped by men on the streets while prospecting for clients.
She added, “I arrived in Cyprus as a virgin, but I was forced into prostitution by my trafficker. During daytime, I do all the house chores and at night I go out to prostitute in a bid to pay the sum of 40,000 Euros. Over the course of two years and eight months, in which I worked everyday, including Sundays, I was subjected to all forms of abuses. I was beaten and starved by not just my trafficker but also some psychopaths, who not only had sex with me, but sometimes beat me up and dump me in the bush.
“I was not allowed to make friends or associate with the black community or even attend church. Over the course of this period, I paid 102,000 Turkish Lira, which is about N10,000,000 to my trafficker without having access to school all through these years. I have attempted suicide on several occasions as life ultimately had no meaning to me.
“We were forced to go out everyday to bring money and on days I refused, I get severely beaten and on one occasion I almost lost my life after I fainted. Even times when I was on my monthly flow, I was still forced to go on the streets and use cotton wool to block the flow. I was raped by men multiple times, to say the least.”
Going spiritual
But inspite of her ordeal in the hands of her trafficker, Ogbemudia did not resign to fate. She turned to God, praying ceaselessly to be set free from this bondage.
“During these trying times, I knew this was not the life I wanted to live, I knew I wanted to serve God and I always prayed that God should make a way out for me. Most times I got drenched in my tears. The only reason I left home was to cater for my family and I was still unable to cloth myself here, not to talk of sending money home to my mother,” she said.
Arrest of her traffickers
God eventually answered her prayers as she was afflicted with an ailment, which rendered her ‘useless’ and out of anger, her trafficker threw her out. She took her to stay with a cousin of hers and it was here she got her break. It was there she met a Nigerian female lawyer, who collaborated with a church to report her ordeal to the police in Cyprus. The police promptly arrested her ‘madam’ and her mother, who had been running the trafficking and prostitution ring in the country.
Ogbemudia recounted, “I was devastated, frustrated, hopeless and sick with constant heart related issues and weakness. I fainted over ten times. I was eventually transferred to another apartment to stay with my trafficker’s cousin and that was where I met a lawyer, Madam Agbeyegbe Ochuko Joy, who, with the help of other Nigerians and the church, eventually reported my case to the Cyprus Police and my trafficker was arrested along with her mother.
“Upon her arrest, my trafficker denied ever knowing me and notwithstanding all available evidence, she was released by the Police. My helper, Mrs. Ochuko also involved the UNCHR, the United Nations Refugee Agency, to protect me as a refugee and also to assist me, maybe in voluntary repatriation, or local integration or resettlement to a third country.”
Freedom at last
At last, Ogbemudia secured her freedom from her trafficker and she’s now awaiting relocation to another European country through the help of some international agencies. A human rights body has also offered her a scholarship to study Law.
“At the end, an application for asylum was made on my behalf. My application has been approved for me to be transferred to the southern part of the country, which is a separate country within the European Union, as a refugee. The UNCHR has also offered me a job, accommodation and a human rights organisation has offered me a scholarship to study Law so I can help other victims in the future,” she said.
Fears over her health status
But Ogbemudia’s nightmare is not yet over as she is now filled with the fear of the consequences of the lifestyle she was forced to live for over two years by her traffickers. Her indeterminate health status is today a source of constant worry to her.
“Today, I decide to live above my fears and scars. I decide that I am strong, intelligent, beautiful and a fighter. I decide to live beyond my scars and look unto the future. My advice for every young lady, especially in Nigeria, is that there are no short cuts. I could have lost my life in the process as I have been threatened with guns several times while on the streets. I am uncertain of my health status at the moment, and all I can do is to be hopeful,” she said.
