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How I Became Sex Slave At 17 After Leaving Nigeria In Search Of Greener Pastures—21-Year-Old Libya Returnee

November 25, 2021

She expressed regrets for departing her country in search of pastures new, only for her to be trapped.

A 21-year-old Libya returnee, Azizat Omoniyi who left Nigeria at the age of 17 has lamented how she ended up being a sex slave in the north African country.

She was one of the 330 Nigerians who recently returned to Nigeria.

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She expressed regrets for departing her country in search of pastures new, only for her to be trapped.

Omoniyi deceived her father by collecting N800,000 from him under false pretences, claiming she wanted to set up a new business, Independent reports, only for her to travel to Libya through the desert.
 
Omoniyi revealed that her friend convinced her to travel to Libya, to work and receive a monthly salary of N120,000.
 
However, according to the 21-year-old, she wasted her life as she soon found out that she would be working as a slave and a prostitute. 

She said she later raised an equivalent of N2 million in Libyan Dinar as a prostitute to free herself from her trafficker.
 
Omoniyi said, “I will never advise anyone to think of travelling out of this country aimlessly.
 
“We don’t appreciate what we have until it is lost. Anyone thinking of travelling without set and achievable objectives should forget it. 
 
“From my father’s custody, a friend convinced me to meet her in Ibadan where I was introduced to the idea of travelling to Libya where I was told that I could work and receive a monthly salary of N120,000.
 
“I deceived my father that I wanted to establish a business and he gave me N800,000, but I used it for the Libyan trip through the desert.
 
“I became a slave and prostitute in Libya; I am not lying, I raised the equivalent of N2 million as a prostitute to free myself from my trafficker.
 
“I want to go back to school. I stopped schooling at Senior Secondary School 2 and have learnt my lessons. The lessons are very, very bitter, I wasted my life.
 
“I do not know my father’s location. I lost everything that I thought I could bring back home when the police raided our house and threw all of us into prison.
 
“We were dispossessed of our savings and property. I lost the phone in which l had my father’s contact.”
 
On Wednesday night, 330 Nigerians, Europe bound, stranded in Libyan cities of Tripoli and Benghazi, were evacuated by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the Nigerian Government.