According to Mirror, a 26-year-old Nigerian lady from the South-South, Abigail, was among more than 500 girls trafficked to Libya for prostitution by a Nigerian syndicate allegedly led by a couple, has died. The couple – Alhaji Muritala Sanni and his wife Alhaja Lateefat Sanni – are presently on the run. Tunde Oshokoya, a human rights activist and private investigator who worked with the Alliance of Rights Defenders (ARD), a non-profit organisation based in Lagos involved in rescuing three of the trafficked girls revealed Abigail’s death. He said:
“It is with heavy heart that we announce Abigail’s passing. She died after a brief illness she came down with while she was in Libya. Since we rescued her, we took her for treatment but she gave up the ghost. It is sad that ARD, an NGO took up the responsibility to rescue and rehabilitate trafficked victims without any assistance from government.”
Barrister Ojay Akinwale, the Chief Executive Officer of ARD expressed sadness over the death and urged government to take human trafficking seriously. Mirror had reported that Abigail was among three trafficked victims rescued from prostitution in Libya by ARD. She had claimed in the interview that she was trafficked to Libya in 2013, after she was lured there to work as an Auxiliary nurse.