BENIN CITY : The family of a young girl, Anita Jolly who was deceived into traveling to Europe with the false promises of a better life for her and her family ,have cried out over the incessant threats to their lives by agents of her sponsor.
A member of the family who spoke to The NIGERIAN OBSERVER on condition of anonymity, alleged that the said sponsor who resides in Nigeria has vowed to eliminate them if their daughter fails to pay up the agreed fee which amounts to thousands of euro.
He alleged that himself and another member of the family have been physically attacked on a number of times by agents of the human trafficker.
He said matters got worse a forthnight ago when some unidentified gunmen invaded their home in Ogida Quarters, Benin City and brutalisedl everyone in the house. “They equally threatened to kill us when next they come if the young Anita Jolly fails to pay her sponsor as agreed” , he narrated.
He told The NIGERIAN OBSERVER that Anita lost her father at an early age and in 2009, when her mother died,she was deliberately accused by some elders in the community of being responsible for her death through witchcraft; an allegation which the young lady vehemently denied. She later fled home when they threatened to forcefully drag her to a dreaded fetish priest in the community to prove her innocence or otherwise.
” We were however surprised to learn that she was trafficked to Europe a few years later and now, the alleged sponsor is threatening to kill everyone in the family for Anita’s failure to pay up the agreed amount running into thousands of euro.
” We are scared and everybody in the family is now living in fears. We have reported to the police but no arrest has been made since nobody in the family actually knows who her sponsor is” , our sources said.
He expressed fears that the alleged sponsor has apparently hired gunmen to kill some members of the family.
Police spokesperson, ASP, Clement Udoh said the situation was worrisome as the police cannot guarantee adequate protection to families of trafficked victims family whose cases are rampant in Nigeria.
He said the case of Anita Jolly is precarious and extremely dangerous as the identity of her alleged sponsor is not known.
The police image maker however told our crime correspondent that detectives from the Command’s anti human trafficking unit have been briefed on the matter and are doing all that is possible to unravel the identity of Anita’s sponsor and her agents..
