By our reporter 3.11.2026
Four girls including a 14-year-old minor from Okene Local Government Area of Kogi State have escaped a prostitution ring after being rescued from the grip of human traffickers in Morila, Mali.
According to Global Anti-Human Trafficking Organisation (GAHTO) founder Prosper Michael the girls were lured to Mali with a promise of working in gold mines and shops only to be forced into prostitution.
But one of the girls by chance stumbled into a phone and using artificial intelligence on WhatsApp was able to contact the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), luckily the save our souls message was picked up by the NAPTIP Uyo command, which in turn in contacted Mr. Michael’s organisation.
Michael said he established contact with one of the girls and worked with a Nigerian community leader in Mali to secure their rescue and return.
NAPTIP Uyo Command said the distress message sent by one of the victims read: “I am a Nigerian girl, trapped in Mali. My madam seized my passport and asked me to go and be doing hook-up. Please, our lives are in danger.”
One of the survivors, identified as Sekinat, a 23-year-old auxiliary nurse, said she was introduced to the supposed job opportunity by her mother’s friend, who promised her legitimate employment.
She said she began the journey on October 14 and arrived in Mali on October 19, only to discover that the promised job was prostitution.
“When I got there, she collected my phone and ID cards. She later told me that the work they do here is prostitution. I thought it was a joke,” she was quoted as saying.
Sekinat alleged that the trafficker threatened to sell or kill any of the girls who refused to engage in prostitution.
She further claimed that the woman collected CFA2.5 million (about N5.7m) to facilitate their journey to Mali but instructed them to tell embassy officials that she had spent CFA1.5 million (N3.4m) to bring them into the country.
The rescue team called on Kogi Central Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, and the Kogi State Government to provide the survivors with medical attention, psychosocial support, counselling and educational assistance.