FROM NIGERIA WITH LOVE
Told by a victim of human trafficing
by
Knut Ofstbo
SMASHWORDS EDITION
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PUBLISHED BY:
Knut Ofstbo
Copyright 2011 Knut Ofstbo
Smashwords Edition License Notes:
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
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Table of content
MY FIRST TRIP TO A FOREIGN COUNTRY
Human trafficing is a huge problem in many countries across the globe. Girls are bought and sold everywhere and huge amounts of money are changing hands. One day I was asked to write an article about the subject and decided to find out how it works here in my country, Norway. I studied how things are done and interviewed some girls in the streets.
One of the girls that I interviewed asked me if I could help her translate some documents and that was where this book started. I wrote the article as a ghostwriter and sold it before i started working on this book. As we kept on working on this i found out a lot about how the girls are treated and by who. Actually there are so many powerful persons involved in this crime and I understand why it's so hard to stop it. This is organized crime on a very high level that involves people from all kinds of social rank.
I have to thank the girl for all the knowledge she gave me about the subject, a knowledge that opened my eyes and made me decide to help as much as I can. This is a the raw story told by an involved. When the book was finished I told the girl that she will get the income from it, but then she replied that we better give it to the girls who need it and that is what we agreed to do. All income from this book will be donated to organisations fighting human trafficing.
All names have been changed in this book to protect the victims and other involved, but the story is told in their own words. A story about human trafficing, abuse, threats, violence and intimidation.
It's a hot sunny day in a small town in the northern part of Nigeria. It's afternoon and I just finished school for today. I have just a couple of months left of my studies to become a nurse and my dream is to start working at the local hospital.
As a student with a lack of income I still live with my parents and my two younger sisters. I am 22 now, but my sisters are still in elementary school. My parents run a small shop that keep us alive, it's not a way to get rich but we make ends meet.
It's thursday and my youngest sister is helping my parents in the shop today. I have to do my studies and prepare for the final exams and graduation. As I sit outside our house my sister comes running the 400 metres from the shop as she screams my name. I ask if everything is ok and then she just smile at me and say that my parents need to speak with me right now. She tell me to put on a dress and come quick. I can't understand what's going on, but hoping for some kind of surprise I do as she tells me to.
Walking towards the shop we can see a car outside, something that rarely happens here. Most people don't have cars and even if we see cars every day in the streets it's very seldom to see one outside the store. As we get closer I see that this is not like the wrecks we usually see here. It's a Mercedez and to me it looks new and very expensive. I can see my mom outside the store staring at the ground, she looks up at me and tell me to go inside and say hello to our visitor before she looks down again.
When I enter through the door I see two men speaking with my dad. They both wear nice suits and have lots of jewelry that I asume is real gold. We are not used to see people dressed up like that and i think to myself that they have to be very rich. With that kind of car and clothes they are probably millionaires. I have never seen anything like this before. As I enter the door they all get quiet and glanced at me, like there is something wrong. I walk over to my dad and politely greets the men.
My dad tells them that he want a word with me alone and the tallest one just nodded towards dad. He ask if we can walk outside the back and again the man respond with a quick nod.
As we come out the back door my dad starts talking very eager.
“You have to help us out Joy. The guys inside want to take our store!”
“How is that possible? This is our store and nobody can take it from us, can they?”
My dad turns his back on me and it seems to me like he sobs. I walk around to get in front of him and can see a tear coming in his eyes. He wipes it as he continues talking.
“I know we never talked about this before Joy, but a while back we had to borrow some money. When we were forced to get a new roof on the store. We borrowed a little, only 500 dollars, and now they want it back. As a solution to me not being able to pay they want you come work for them.”
“But dad, I have only days left before I graduate. Then I will start working as a nurse and I can use my income to pay off the debt. Isn't that a better idea?”
“It sure is a better idea Joy. I have told them already on the phone last week but now they are here and won't leave before they have a solution or they will take our shop.”
“What kind of job is it dad? Where? And for how long time will I have to work there?”
“The guys own a factory in Lagos and that's the place they want you to work. I have talked to them for a while and they will fix a place to live and everything. You will have to work for 6 months and then we are free again. If you go now they will delete our debt and also give 2000 dollars to the family.”
“That sounds like a great plan dad but what about my studies? I need to finish them to make my dream come true.”
“With the savings we get now I guarantee you will get back to studies as soon as possible Joy. This is our only way out. Your mom support me on this, you have to do this.”
It seems to me like they have talked this over and that there is no way around. I have to help my family, and how bad can it be? I get a place to stay and believe that time will be spent working and sleeping. I can do that for 6 months. I am only 22 and will still be young when I get back to my family.
“Ok dad, I will do it.”
My dad wipes his tears again thank me. We walk back in the store where the men seems to be impatient. My dad tell them I will work in their factory and the men tell me to pack a bag. One of the men picks up a cell phone and walks out front. He comes back in after a minute and says that a bus will pick me up in about an hour.
One hour is not a long time when you are about to say goodbye to your family knowing you won't see them for months. The bus arrives after 1 hour 20 minutes and I tell my family how much I love them and promise to take good care of myself. My mom cries as we say goodbye and I enter the bus.
The bus is really an old model and has not been taking good care of. There are windows missing and the interior is worn down. The trip will take about 21 hours, but hopefully I can sleep during the trip and make time run that way. The bus is almost full of girls between 18 and 30 years old and I walk over to one of the few seats that are not taken. I sit down beside a young girl that can't be more than 18. As I look around I notice that the girls are in all kinds of different moods, some smiling and laughing while others cry. The girl beside is somewhere in between and I decide to try to get to know her. I will need some friends in the new place and why not start connecting.
The girls name is Angela and she seems nice. She tells me that she is 17 years old and was about to start her studies next year. Now the plan was changed in a hurry after some guys came to their village and offered her family 4000 dollars if she went to work in a factory for a year. She says that 8 girls from her place made the same desicion and that they are on the bus too. I tell her my story about how my life changed in a few minutes from being a student to become a factory worker. I also explain my plans to go back and finish studying after 6 months. The bus moves on south as we keep on chatting until we fall asleep.
I wake up as the bus stops. We are at a gas station and I guess it's time to stretch the legs. We all go out and are told to hurry if we need to visit the ladies room. The ladies room is actually not a room, it's a place behind the station covered with tarpaulin to protect against the rain and with walls of corrugated iron. We do our defecate and returns to the bus where we get something to eat and and some water. After about 30 minutes we walk back in to the bus and moves on towards Lagos. As soon as the bus gets moving Angela and I continue our chat, until we get tired and fall asleep again.
Suddenly I wake by a man's voice yelling that we have to wake up. The sun is shining outside and I feel extremely hungry, almost the same feeling as nausea and the need to vomit. I look out of the window frame, were the glass is supposed to be, and see lots of buildings. This is so different from the small town I have lived all my life. I have previously only seen my hometown and a few of the small villages nearby. Angela tells me that the man has just entered the bus and is about to give us vital information about our new accomodation. I listen and hear that I am placed in a room with 4 girls that I don't know. Angela is also placed with girls that she never seen before and we plan to ask if we can swap with some other girl to end up in the same room. The man who just presented himself as Samuel gets angry at first, but say he understands and will fix the exchange. I feel happy, at least I get to live with one girl that I know a little.
The bus stops ouside a big concrete fence with gates of solid steel. I can see lots of different big buildings inside and I guess this is the factory. This must be the largest fenced area I have ever seen and the buildings I can see from the bus is looking very worn and old. It's not possible to spot anything but the buildings where I assume production takes place. I notice a different odor that I guess is the smell of sea. My dad told me what it smells like and this fits what he described. Suddenly the steel gates start moving and they open for the bus to drive inside the area.
As the bus moves in I get a glimpse of ships between some of the tall buildings. The bus moves over to a building where some girls are hanging out on the outside, probably eating breakfast. I almost forgot my hunger for a while, but hope we get something to eat soon too. Samuel tell us to get outside and line up in front of the bus. We are told to get into two lines, one for the girls 25 and older, and the girls from 24 and younger in the other line. I get in the line behind Angela and we decide to stay together.
The line with the youngest girls are told to get back into the bus while the older ones are told that they will stay here. They pick up their belongings and move over to the eating girls as we get back into the bus. We drive inside the area for about 2 minutes before we get to a shack of a house close to the sea. We are now at the harbour and the smell of sea feels more intense but fresh and good. Before we leave the bus we are told that the kind of house will be our home during our first period in the factory. I hope there is food inside, that's the most important for me right now. As we walk inside to our rooms we meet a few girls in the corridors. I place my belongings in a room, the same room as Angela, and finally we get to eat.
The canteen looks pretty much as the one we have in school, only dirtier and more worn. The food we get is of pretty poor quality but at least I am not starving. I notice a few of the girls refuses to eat the food, they have probably never felt real hunger before. After eating we are told to just relax and wait in our rooms for more information. Samuel is there and says that a man named Jack will show up to give us further information. While waiting for Jack we are taken one by one into a small room to take pictures and filling a form to get our id cards. I am told that I will get my id card within a week and that it will be possible to leave the factory area as soon as I have my card. I am really looking forward to see the big city.
After a couple of hours a white man shows up outside our barracks and present himself as Jack. He is looking sweat and dirty, and he gives orders like we were in the army. We have to line up with the girls who are already living here, in 2 lines again, and are told to walk after Jack towards a huge building by the pier. Inside the building is almost empty, just some garbage lying around. Jack says that we will work in here when a ship comes in, but never mentions what our tasks are. After Jack finishes his informational speech we are told to get back to our rooms.
I stay outside the barracks with Angela and some of the other girls. We talk about our plans for the future, expectations of life and our dreams. We talk about the strange feeling of being in this place and how we got here. One subject who is talked about all the time is what will happen next and the girls who already been here for a while tell us stories about how many girls seem to disappear. I ask where they go, but none of the girls can answer that. One of them claims that she have seen a few of the disappeared girls over at the factory area and that calms me down a bit. We are also told that the ships we are supposed to work with only arrives a couple of times a week and the rest of the time is just waiting and relaxing.
After 2 days of waiting a ship finally arrives. We are told to hurry over to the building where we are supposed to do a job. I see cranes and forklifts start to unload the ship immedeately as we walk over to the building. Jack and another white man is waiting for us, but beside that nothing is changed inside the building. The men talk together in a language I don't understand and then they point out 8 girls including me that are told to follow the stranger.
As we walk out a back door the man tells us to hurry, so we are almost running to catch up with his quick and long steps. Outside the back another man shows up. He is African and talks to us in our own language. We are told that we are the chosen ones that will have a chance to earn more than the rest. He says that if we want we get to work onboard the ship and says that we have to tell him now if we want to work in the fish factory were we live. Finally we got to know what kind of factory it was, but with the smell inside the area I guessed it already. I don't know anything about the fish industry and ask the man what kind of work we are supposed to do in the ship. He tells that our tasks will be cleaning and cooking. It sure sounds nice to me so I raise my hand when he asks who will join the boat crew. The 7 other girls do the same and we are told to go back get our stuff from the room.
About 2 hours later we are onboard and ready to leave Lagos. There are no rooms for us here, just closets to store our stuff in. We are not told to do anything but to wait and so we do. 2 hours after we left Lagos we are told by a very angry man to get up on deck with our belongings. I get scared now, are they going to drop us in the sea here?
As we get up I can see another big ship is beside us. It looks like some kind of ferry, a rusty hulk. They put up a walking bridge between the boats and we are told to walk across. One girl starts to complain and says that whe will not do that, but are told to obey if she wants to see her family again. I understand that I just have to do as told and everything will work out. Maybe something is wrong with our ship and that's why they need us to go with the other one. Walking across the bridge is very scary, the boats are moving because of the waves and it's really hard to not fall. I manage to get over to the ferry and hope I never have to do something like this again.
As the ships leaves each other and head separate directions we are told to get below the deck. As we get down there we are locked into a small dark room that already have some other girls in it. I hear girls crying and yelling in the room and for the first time since I left home I am really scared. Am I going to die here at the age of 22? I pray to God and hope that he can hear my prayers. I'm hungry and cold and guess it's night outside, but there is no way I can tell for sure since there are no windows here. I really miss Angela now.
MY FIRST TRIP TO A FOREIGN COUNTRY
I must have been sleeping although it has been very noisy in here. I have no idea where I am now, but what I do know is that I am shaking cold and extremely hungry. I hear something happens outside the room we are locked into, other girls are talking and crying. I hope they are not going to have more girls in here, it's just not room for more people in here.
The door is unlocked and opened, and we are told to get up on deck quick and bring all our stuff. My eyes can't handle the bright light as we out in the sun and I struggle to see where I go. I have no idea how long we have been locked up below deck, but it feels like an eternity. As we get on deck we are lined up in small groups of 12 and from the number of girls I see there have be lots of rooms below deck. Some of the girls just look sad and some are crying. We all try to cosole each other even if we have never met before. Six white men comes out on deck with bags containing documents that they start to hand over to some of the girls. We are told that it's our passports, but when I get mine I can see that my name is not correct. I tell the man that my name is Joy and not Sofia. He smiles at me and says that I am Sofia now.
I see a group of girls walking over to the side of the ship and they disappear there. My group is the second to be ordered over and soon I see where the others disapeared. We are told to climb down a ladder made of rope and on to a small wooden boat. This boat will take us to shore. We are welcomed onboard by an old man that looks like he is a mix of African and white. We are stuffed together 12 girls and the skipper in this boat who is probably made for no more than 6-8 persons. I am extremely happy to notice that it's not windy because I am sure waves will sink this boat. We leave the ferry behind heading for the shore.
As we get closer to the shore I can see that we are going to a place with nothing but sand. I can't see anything but a couple of men waving at us. The boat stops beside the first small boat who left the ferry and we are told to walk the last 15 metres to the beach. The 2 men on the beach tell us to follow the footsteps from the other girls. We can see that they have walked over a sand dune. The guys tell us to not try anything stupid and show us their guns to prove they are serious. I have never been this scared in my life and decides that listening to the order is probably the only way out. As we start walking the sand I turn and see 3 more boats on their way towards the beach as the other 2 boats are heading out to the ferry again.
Once we get over the sand dune I get my first big shock, a girl is lying on the ground a few metres from me and all the girls are hysterically crying. A man yells that we have to follow orders or the same will happen to the rest of us. I understand is as she tried to run off and that the man killed her. I have no idea how it happened because I never heard a gunshot, maybe he killed her with a knife. I am so scared that I almost can't stand on my feets, I have heard of the gangs killing people just to get their internal organs and sell them. Is this what will happen to us?
The man tells us to shut up and listen. I try as good as I possibly can. He says that we are in Morocco now and that we have some walking to do. All I can see is sand, but suddenly we hear the sound of engines. 2 cars comes towards us very fast. Jeeps made to run in the sand with 2 men in each car. When they arrive the passengers jump out of the cars with guns in their hands while the drivers stay in their seats. I don't even dare to move and try my very best to keep my shaking body still. The 2 men who just arrived put the dead girl into a black bag and load the bag into one of the cars. The car spin around and disappear in the horisont with 2 men and the 2 men left are getting seated in the other car. We are told to follow the car who start driving at walking speed through the desert.
We have walked for more than a day now, very slow during daytime and quite fast during the cold night. Some of the girls in the group are lagging behind but we all try to help each other as good as we can. We are talking a bit and it seems like most of us have almost similar stories. We are told to be quiet and walk, but we just lower our voices. The food we are served is very bad, it's some kind of very dry bread and water. I am happy that we get anything at all, but really wish that I can taste some real food soon.
3 days in the desert have passed and I feel almost dead. The car who lead us have changed a few times, but I don't know how many. The walking is very hard physical and combined with the lack of sleep and food I am very tired now. During last night 2 girls disappeared, I have asked the others what happened, but none of them know. I notice that the disappeared girls are among the weakest, the ones who often gets behind and slows down the group. Everything seems unreal now, it's like I am not myself anymore. I just fight to survive, but I feel like giving up and lay down to die all the time.
I have lost count on how many days we have walked now. At this moment I am happy to stay alive. The walk started with 23 girls and now we are only 17 left. The men leading us are pointing their guns at us every day and threatening to kill us. Many times I think that would be the best solution, but I pray and always overcome the bad thoughts. I pray almost all the time now, there is no power to talk with the others as we walk. We have passed a couple of villages at a distance on our trip, and a girl was shot in the back while she tried to run towards the buildings. At that point I understood why I did not hear a gunshot the first time. The gunshot just sounded like a pop and one of the girls explained to me that it was because the gun had a silencer. I have no knowledge about guns and just keep on fighting to survive. It's a strange thing how the mind never give up even if that's what I really want to. One of the men comes out of the car to speak to us. He says that he knows our situation and tell us that we have to remember our debt. He say that if we die now our families will be killed and ask if that's what we want. I pray to God and ask him to help me. I need to make it, for my family.
I have no idea how I survived the walk in the desert, but finally we can spot some kind of tents in front of us. I can see 2 trucks too, like the ones used by the army to transport soldiers. As we get to the camp of tents we see that there are some men sitting in the shade beside the trucks. We are told to line up for food. It's bread and water as usual, but this time we get a lot more each. I eat and for the first time since we started walking I don't feel starved. After eating we are told to line up again. The men starts to hand out clothes to us and as soon as we get our new clothing we are told to clean ourself and change. We get some water and orders to do the cleaning behind the tents. Now I feel pretty sure that I will survive and see this as a step into the right direction. As I am cleaning behind one of the tents I hear someone appear from behind. A girl is crying out at the same time as I am dragged into a tent with a hand in front of my mouth. One of the men just attacked me and pulled me into a tent and the fear of dying is stronger than ever before. He tells me to shut up and do as he say. I think of my family as he hold me down and rape me. I feel pain like someone forcing a knife inside me. I think that I do it for my family as I start crying. I am sure this is the most painful experience I ever had in my life. I am not a virgin anymore but I do it for them, my family, can't let them down now...
I hardly can't walk as I come out of the tent. Blood is flowing down my legs and I can't stop crying. I don't know how long time I have been there, but it feels like forever. I struggle to stay upright as I manage to limp my way to the backside of the tent again and fall to the ground crying. I get up and start cleaning, but feel I can't get clean, just dirty, sore and painful. I really wish I died during the walk and did not have to go through this.
After a while I manage to get back to the trucks again. The men are smiling and laughing there, pointing at us and making jokes. They say we will be transported to the beach and the only thing we need to bring is our passports in a handbag and the clothes we wear. The girls who doesn't have handbags get some from the men. We are allowed to bring some small personal belongings together with our passports in the handbag. The men gives us some 2 pills each and water. They say it's medicine we need where we are going. I actually don't care too much anymore and take the pills as told. Some of the girls refuse to eat the pills and are beaten by the men until they take them. We are told to climb the truck as the engine starts, 17 girls dressed up in jeans and t-shirts on our way to the unknown.