15 year old Precious Nwaigwe, the little girl who was abducted in May 2014 and sold to pimps in Libya by her maternal uncle and was released last Friday, has narrated how she was made to work  to raise $6,000 for her release. According to Punch, precious said she was kidnapped in Ode Remo in Ogun state while searching for a bus that will take her to school when she ran into some cultists..

"When I left Sangotedo Park in Ajah for school, I was the only one in the vehicle, so the driver dropped me off at Ibeju Lekki. I got another vehicle from there, which took me to Ode Remo around 9pm. I could not find a cab that would take me to Ikenne where my school is. I did not know they were having a festival that day and people had been asked to stay indoors. I trekked for about two hours until I stumbled on some people who were talking. I discovered they were cultists and they accused me of eavesdropping. They added that I knew their secrets. The ladies among them descended on me. After the ladies were done beating me, they asked the men in the group to take turns to rape me"she said.

Precious said one man who she later got to know as Seun came to her defense, asking the men in their midst not to touch her. Seun now took her to his house in Ojota, Lagos where she stayed for a while

"One day, he (Seun) said he wanted to help me to get eyedrop because my eyes were swollen. I begged him to allow me to follow him, at least to see the sun. He obliged me and while we were going, my slippers cut and I went back into the house to pick another one. I was on my way when I saw Kelvin (Okito) my maternal cousin.”she said

Precious said Kelvin, her cousin now took her to meet a friend who she simply identified as John at the Alaba area of Lagos. Kelvin now told her that John will be taking her to his elder brother Nzube Chukwu in Libya where she is expected to complete her education. She said she pleaded to speak with her mother but Kelvin, refused saying he had spoken with her mother and that she was happy she is relocating.

"He said he had called my mum and told her he was taking me on a journey to Libya. I pleaded with him to allow me talk to her, but he said my mum was happy that I was going to Libya, where I would continue my education.”

In company with other people, they began the four day journey to Agadez in the Niger Republic where they stayed for three weeks and then continued their journey to Libya, spending seven days in the desert. According to her, some of the people kidnapped as well died along the way. 

“We got to Bra in Libya seven days after. I met the wife of the man (Chukwu) and she asked me if I had been told what I was there for. I said, ‘Yes, to continue my school. I was taken to a place where there were so many girls wearing only pants and bras. I told them to wear their clothes. But they laughed at me and said, ‘this one is a JJC (naive)’,” she said.

The madam in the house told her that she, (Precious) has $6,000 to pay back which is meant for her transportation to Libya, accommodation and feeding. She was made to work everyday and whatever she made in a month will be shared into two, a portion for the bill incurred while traveling to Libya and the other portion for feeding and accommodation. 

She said she got a phone which she used in calling her Uncle Kelvin to inform him that she was suffering in Libya but he only promised that everything will be fine and that he will talk to her madam.

Precious said she was able to work and pay the $6,000 on her own. A Nigerian man named Sunday who she became friends with helped her to facilitate her release after she paid and return back to Nigeria. 

Precious said as she was leaving  the place, the pimp in Libya urged her to help her recruit more girls from Lagos. “She told me that now that I have seen how she worked and made her money, she would want me to join the business. There were more than 1,000 Nigerian girls who had been recruited to work in Libya. I was lucky to have survived and returned home safely.”

She said when she arrived in Lagos, she contacted a relative in the Okota area of the state, who took her to her parents.

"I can never forgive my cousin who did this to me. I trusted him and he decided to sell me for money,” she said.

Credit:  Linda Ikeji