BADAGRY — Ama Devi came to Nigeria believing she had found a way out of poverty. A Facebook contact promised her a legitimate job opportunity in Lagos. She was 24 years old, a seamstress from Lome, Togo, and desperate for something better. Nine months later, she was locked in a compound in Badagry, her phone confiscated, her SIM card destroyed, forced to make calls home claiming she had been kidnapped so her family would send ransom money.
“They told me when I arrived that I owed them money for bringing me here. The job they described did not exist. There was only this scheme and these rooms and no way out,” Ama said through a translator after being rescued by Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps operatives who raided the Torikoh area compound in Badagry.
The NSCDC Lagos Command confirmed the rescue of 17 victims from the facility, which operated under the guise of a QNET network marketing business. Four suspects were arrested. Commandant Adedotun Keshinro said the operation was intelligence-driven, triggered by a complaint from a Central African Republic national who had managed to escape and report the scheme.
A Transnational Crime Network
The Badagry compound is part of a transnational criminal network with multiple camps across the border communities of Lagos, Ogun, and into Benin Republic. Investigators found that victims were recruited through Facebook and WhatsApp with promises of jobs, then trafficked and held until their families paid.
Ama said she thought about her family every day. She said the worst moments were when she was forced to call her mother and pretend she was in danger. She said she hated lying to her mother but feared what would happen if she spoke the truth in the presence of her captors.
She is now in the custody of the Nigeria Immigration Service, which is processing her repatriation to Togo. NSCDC said it is working with the Nigerian Police to identify all camp locations in the network and to arrest suspects who fled before the raid. Investigations are ongoing.
Discover more from News247 Nigeria
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
