By Tola Gbadamosi

Operatives of Ondo State Amotekun have arrested a suspect allegedly luring and trafficking Ondo state young ladies into prostitution in Mali.

The suspect was alleged to have lured two young ladies, Adeoye Olufunmilayo,17, and Sandra Adeyeye ,20, into taking up jobs in Mali as sales representatives with a salary of N200, 000 monthly.

While lamenting their ordeals ,the victims who were rescued by personnel of Amotekun Corps and have been reunited with their families, said they were hoodwinked to take the offer.

One of the victims, Oluwafumilayo Adeoye,, who is a hairdresser and a Senior Secondary School dropout of New Church Grammar School, Owo in Owo local government area of Ondo State said she did not inform her parents before embarking on the journey.

“I am from Ikare-Akoko in Ondo State. Matthew Olupona told us that there are lots of work in Mali. So, we agreed to go there to work. Our parents didn’t know about it, there were three of us that went there, but I was the only one from Ikare Akoko. The other two are from Owo.

“Before I went to Mali, I was learning tailoring, but yet to do my graduation. I could not continue my education because my parents are not financially buoyant.

“I got an offer to be a sales representative in Mali with a salary of N200,000 monthly. I jumped at the offer, because I saw it as a huge opportunity to say goodbye to poverty and make life better for myself and my mother.

“I stopped in Senior Secondary School 3,  before I took the decision to travel to Mali in quest for a greener pasture.

“We left in January this year and came back on March 9. When we got to Mali, we realized that  the woman we were asked to work for, asked us to start  prostitution.

“We did not agree to go into prostitution because that was against the agreement that took us there. Although, there were lots of Nigerians  there who indulged in prostitution for a living.

“My friend and I planned to run away from the house. We met lots of Nigerians out there and we were lucky to see someone who took us in.

“The other woman told us that they will use our pants to perform rituals and that anywhere we escaped to, they will locate us. After much threats, luckily, we were able to escape back to Nigeria.

“We really appreciate men of the Amotekun Corps for making sure we got back to Nigeria safely.

“To young ladies like me out there, let us be contented with whatever we have,” she advised.

Also speaking to The Hope, the suspect who tricked the girls to Mali, narrated that he never knew anything of such could happen to the girls because they were like his younger sisters who are living across the street.

“My name is Olupona Matthew, I am from Owo in Ondo state, I am 27 years old and a barber.

“There was a woman I met in Lagos, I used to buy underwears from Lagos to sell in Owo, we lodged in same hotel, she told me that there was a job opportunity in Mali, that if I have younger sisters that can work in a hotel.

“She told me last year, I didn’t show any interest until in January this year, when she sent me a message  based on our last discussion which was about helping her to get girls to Mail for receptionist job in Hotel.

“Based on that, I told her that I have some ladies living in my street who are like my younger sisters. So, when I told them, they said they have interest.

“What the woman told me was that they will be working in hotel and bar. And that was why I took them to Lagos.

” I did not do any findings because this is my first time.  I have never done it before. if I had known they were going for contrary mission, I wouldn’t have let them go because they are like my younger sisters and they respect me a lot.

“It was when they got there that they told me what they saw, so I asked them to start coming back.

“I didn’t go with them, though I was the one that linked them up.  I don’t know if the woman has been arrested over there, I can’t find the woman again.

“I introduced the two girls to the woman.

I was not given anything, those girls are my younger sisters in the street,” he explained.

Ondo State Amotekun Commander, Akogun Adetunji Adeleye said his men got the information  of the trafficking and swung into action.

He said the girls were rescued and sent back to Nigeria to unite with their families.

“Amotekun got involved when our intelligence gathered information that there is a man in Owo recruiting people for prostitution.

“We searched and got him, he said he was working for somebody. Before we could get the person, he had already traveled with the children.

“We got the parents of the children through the suspect and the parents said they did not release their daughters to him.

“So we brought the parents of the two girls and the man that took them away and demanded they must be brought back to Nigeria.

“We tracked the woman who took them to Mali and mounted pressure on her and she confessed to us, that the girls have escaped from her house.

“Based on intelligence gathering, we were able to locate the girls in Mali, sent money to the person they were staying with who thereafter, sent them back home,” he stated.

The Commander who doubles as the Special Adviser to the Ondo State Governor on Security Matters, advised youths to shun the idea of looking for quick wealth through dubious means, but should exercise patience and say no to a lifestyle that could jeopardize their future.

He also admonished parents to always  monitor their children and caution them against dangerous moves to acquire wealth.

“The reality is that, it is an illusion to think of shorter ways to make money,” he said.