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Summary
The story follows two sisters deceived into forced prostitution in Ibadan after leaving home in search of work. It explores how poverty, exploitation, and weak enforcement enable internal trafficking of women in Nigeria.
“When we left Ile-Ife in Osun State, South-West Nigeria for Ibadan to hustle, it was not that work she told me on the phone. It was ashawo work.” – Faith, 17
At the open space of a prominent media house in Ibadan, Oyo State, South-West Nigeria, shortly after being rescued from a hotel, Faith sat huddled beside her older sister, Joy, whispering her story like it might shatter if spoken too loudly. What started as a journey for survival has unravelled into a tale of deception, despair, and brutal initiation into the underworld of urban child trafficking and forced prostitution.
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Faith was 17.
She left her home in Benue State, North Central Region of Nigeria, with hopes of helping her family raise enough money for school fees. “We couldn’t afford it anymore,” she said. “So we had to hustle.”
The journey began with a man she and her sister, Joy met in Benue State—Kelivein (not his real name)—who arranged transport for them to Ile-Ife, in Osun State, South-West Nigeria. Kelivien lured them with a promise of farming jobs. But the labour was harsh and punishing, unfit for teenage girls with no training or stamina for such gruelling work. “We were not strong enough,” Joy recalled. “We thought farming was just like helping at home. But it was different—hard, hot, and heavy.”
“We could not do the job, but we had no alternative, Joy said.”
With nowhere else to turn, the stranded sisters reached out to Cynthia 24, a relative in Ibadan, Oyo State, Cynthia told them the only available work in Ibadan was selling fufu and beer. She sent them money to board a bus from Ile-Ife, Osun State to Ibadan. Little did the girls know that they were being trafficked by their own relative.
A Bill, A Room, A Trap
When the sisters arrived in Ibadan, Cynthia and the people she was staying with at a seedy hotel in Ibadan offered Faith and her sister food and a place to sleep. But the next morning, the girls were summoned to a meeting where the trap was sprung.
“They said we had to pay 28,000 naira for the room and food,” Joy said. “We asked how we would get the money, and they told us we must hustle—ashawo work. That’s when I knew we were in trouble.”
Faith begged to be excused, telling Cynthia that she had never done such work. “She said she also didn’t like it but had no choice. But I told her, “I have a choice—even if you kill me, I won’t do it.”
Their phones were confiscated. Communication with the outside world was cut off.
Recruitment and Denial
Cynthia admits to recruiting the girls. She claims she told them there was work and sent them money for transportation. When they arrived, she said the bar had no space, so they were housed at a hotel and asked to engage in sex work.
“I didn’t force them,” she told me. “They could have left. But if they worked, they would split the money with the hotel. I pay 14,000 every Monday to the hotel. That’s the arrangement.”
Their phones were seized. Their access to the outside world was cut off. Cynthia said it was for “their protection”—but it left the girls entirely at her mercy.
A Growing Trend Across Nigeria
Cases like Faith and Joy’s reflect a growing trend of internal trafficking in Nigeria, trafficking orchestrated by close relatives.
Nigeria remains a source, transit and destination country when it comes to human trafficking. In 2022, the U.S. State Department Trafficking In Persons Report Per the 2023 Global Slavery Index Report, Nigeria ranked 38/160 of the countries with the highest number of slaves – 1.6 million – and National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) reports that the highest number of trafficked persons in Nigeria, which maintains its posture as a Tier 2 country on the U.S. State Department’s Trafficking In Persons Report (2022), are women who are 18+ (NAPTIP 2021 Report). According to NAPTIP statistics from 2019- 2022, 61% of human trafficking in Nigeria happens internally, while 39% is generated from cross-border trafficking. It is the third most common crime in Nigeria after drug trafficking and economic fraud (UNESCO, 2006). The general factors that increase vulnerability to trafficking in Nigeria include extreme poverty (33% -70 million people) live in extreme poverty), lack of economic opportunities, corruption, conflict/insecurity, climate change/resulting migration and western consumerism.
“For many girls, the line between survival and exploitation is a single phone call.”
Advocacy and Intervention
A social worker and member of the Religious Sisters of Charity, Sister Justina Nelson has been involved in numerous rescues and rehabilitations of trafficking survivors.
According to Sister Justina, “In prevention work, we see many who have returned traumatised,” she says. “Some need psychiatric help. Others are rejected by their families. We try to support them through empowerment programmes and reintegration.”
Sister Justina runs awareness campaigns across schools, markets, and correctional facilities in Nigeria, working in collaboration with NAPTIP and other local partners. She was instrumental in rescuing several underage girls trafficked from northern Nigeria to Lagos in recent months.
Her efforts also extend to advocacy within the justice system, helping survivors testify and pushing for stiffer penalties for traffickers.
Nigeria’s Legal Framework—and Its Gaps
A human rights lawyer and advocacy lead at the Tabitha Empowerment Centre, Gladys Rebecca Emmanuel, says Nigeria’s anti-trafficking laws are comprehensive, but enforcement is weak.
Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution prohibits forced labour under Section 34(1), and the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act of 2015—TIPA—criminalises multiple forms of trafficking,” she explained.
Under TIPA:
- Section 13 criminalises trafficking with a minimum 2-year prison sentence and ₦250,000 fine.
- Section 14 targets exploitation across borders, including prostitution, with 7 years’ imprisonment.
- Sections 15–17 impose penalties for the recruitment of persons, including minors, for sexual exploitation.
- Section 18 criminalises sex tourism.
- Sections 65–68 mandate victim compensation and the creation of a Victims of Trafficking Trust Fund.
“While Nigeria boasts of policies to combat trafficking, enforcement remains weak, and traffickers like Cynthia continue to operate unchecked.”
But Emmanuel warns that the law is often underutilised.
“We need specialised trafficking courts, fast-tracked trials, proper witness protection, and more funding for shelters and trauma-informed services,” she said. “On paper, the law is strong. In practice, it falls short.”
She also called for aggressive use of asset seizure provisions in TIPA to cripple trafficking networks financially.
Complicity and Silence
Abigail, the hotel manager where Faith and Joy were kept, claims she was unaware of the full situation.
“They were too young to be bar girls,” she said. “I was planning to send them back, but they disappeared. They looked so dirty when they came. I didn’t talk to them much.”
Her comments reflect the blurred lines between ignorance and complicity in Nigeria’s informal economy, where young girls are often trafficked in plain sight.
Eventually, Faith and Joy found a way out. With the help of a stranger they met on the street, they escaped the hotel and sought shelter. But they remain out of school, unemployed, and emotionally scarred.
“We just wanted to go to school,” Joy said quietly.
But the streets had other plans.
What’s at Stake
The case of Faith and Joy highlights a wider national crisis—one fuelled by poverty, poor governance, and under-enforced laws.
The World Bank estimates that over 54% of Nigerians will be living in poverty by the end of 2024. Combined with insecurity and unemployment, this leaves many families vulnerable to deception.
While Nigeria has policies to combat trafficking, implementation remains inconsistent. Until poverty is tackled and laws are enforced consistently, girls like Faith and Joy will continue to fall prey to trafficking rings disguised as opportunity, Emmanuel says.
