A report by Qatar-based news network, Aljazeera, has showed how some Nigerian women in Ghana are being forced into prostitution and exploited by fetish priests.
The perpetrators of this trafficking ring, according to the report, are Nigerians, mostly women and Ghanaian middlemen who are oftentimes hotel managers.
The report documented the experience of young Nigerians, who had left for Ghana to find jobs as sales girls or waitresses but ended up being forced into prostitution.
These girls are held hostage by fear of being killed through fetish means.
Jennifer, one of the girls, who spoke with Aljazeera, said she was forced to sleep with different men from 8:00pm till the next morning every day.
“Each Night, I receive up to eight clients and end up having N7,000 to N8,750 in my hands,” she said.
This money goes back to her Nigerian trafficker and the hotel manager.
In one of the hotels that the young women are camped, Blessing, a 26-year old Nigerian, said she was kept in the trade by a woman, who took her to a priest.
The priest uses fear and manipulations to ensure that these women pay their recruiter and do not run away.
The United States Department of State opened an investigation into trafficking in Ghana last year and had since secured only three convictions.
Out of 49 women identified as potential victims of sex trafficking, 46 were Nigerian, and 22 were underage.
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