By Abdulrahman Balarabe Isah
Three teenagers (names withheld) from Kadage Village in Sumaila Local Government Area of Kano State were recently held for several weeks in Oyo State for child trafficking.
The trio, with an age range between 14 and 21, were lured into traveling all the way to Ibadan, the state capital, for a juicy job, but their hope for a greener pasture ended almost immediately after their arrival.
Grassroots Parrot got a hint of the unbearable experience of the three young girls after their several attempts to quit the menial job of N10,000 monthly were truncated.
The drama began when Hajia Sa’a, a child trafficker (an agent), contracted Hajia Aina’u, a grandmother of the teenagers, and lured her to come along with her grandchildren for better job opportunities in Oyo State.
The agent reportedly promised to secure them housekeeping jobs with a pay package ranging from N35,000 to N40,000 monthly.
Apparently convinced by the agent’s sugar-coated mouth, the sexagenarian, along with her three grandchildren, all female, and another woman from Kadage village, embarked on the trip to Oyo State.
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Oblivious to the actual job description, they found out rather late that they would be working as food vendors all day long for a N10,000 token as opposed to the N35,000 to N40,000 house help jobs.
On their arrival in Oyo State, the girls’ grandmother and the other woman were rejected on age grounds, the latter being a nursing mother. This development prompted their decision to return to base.
However, this decision was greeted with a stiff rejection by Hajia Salamatu, the food vendor.
Salamatu insisted that the teenage girls must work for her until she recovers the money she spent on their transport fares from Kano to the South Western state and payment of the agent services.
Hajia Aina’u and the nursing mother eventually returned to Kano without the teenagers.
Hajia Aina’u, full of regret and uncertainty about the safety and wellbeing of her grandchildren, shared her experience with Grassroots Parrot.
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“Upon reaching there, she rejected us and told us that we were not fit for the kind of job she has. That was how we began to question her motives with the young girls.
“I immediately asked her to release them to me because we are all going home, but she refused, insisting that we have to refund all the money she spent to transport us to the South.
“We were thrown to the streets, forced to beg to eat, before some people in the Hausa community helped to bring us back to Kano to source for the N75,000 she asked for.” She explained.
She expressed concerns that the teenage girls reported being harassed by men in the course of selling food to their customers in the street of Ibadan.
Our correspondent attempted to speak to the girls via their employer’s telephone, but to no avail. They could not disclose any information in the presence of Salamatu, hence maintaining sealed mouths.
The telephone line was eventually switched off.
A few days later, our correspondent called back Salamatu, and she denied a claim by the grandmother that the girls were facing constant harassment in the course of selling the food.
Hajia Salamatu admitted that she held the girls because of the money she spent bringing them down to Oyo State.
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She accused her outsourcing agent back in the village of luring the villagers with fake promises of good pay just to secure her commission.
Salamatu’s husband, Malam Yakubu, also spoke with our correspondent on the phone, claiming that the young girls are well protected.
According to him, the conditions for the release of the girls are simple. “It’s either their family pays the N70, 000 transport fare they owe or they will labor for that amount, and I think that’s fair on both sides.”
When contacted, Hajia Sa’a, a resident of Kadage Village herself, who linked the victims to the food seller, admitted that she always receives monthly tokens from all workers being contracted for such a shady deal.
The agent, however, urged our correspondent to be discreet about the information she divulged. “Even my husband does not know that I am into this business.” She said.
The case was lodged with the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking Against Persons (NAPTIP), and the agency promised to engage its Oyo State Office for further investigation.
After mounting pressure, the food seller called our correspondent to confirm that she had released the girls and that they were on their way to Kano without payment of the transport fare, as earlier insisted.
Grassroots Parrot followed up with the girl’s family, who also confirmed that no money was paid to the woman before she put the girl on the next available bus to Kano.