A whistleblower made it possible to free Nigerian prostitutes held captive in Spain.
A NIGERIAN woman deceived into travelling to Spain to work as a prostitute has spoken out and had made it possible for the police to free the other victims as well as arrest their pimps.
The woman told police officers that she was approached back home by a woman who is also a Nigerian national. The said woman offered to send the victim to Spain to study and promised to take care of all her expenses as a favour to her family.
To arrive in Spain, they travelled through land, passed through a lot of African countries before finally arriving in Italy. On arriving Italy, they crossed over to Spain. Having arrived in Spain, the whistle blower was asked to work as a prostitute in order to pay back the debt from her travelling cost and accommodation.
When she refused, she was continuously beaten and raped until she decided to prostitute and pay back the said debt.
They told her she and the other prostitutes – all Nigerian – had to pay back about 50,000 and 55,000 euros each. This means that all the money they make from their prostitution job needs to be handed over to their captors.
Any refusal to work or failure to meet the stipulated quotas they had to pay will result to raping and beating. In addition, they will be threatened that their family members back home would be killed and their homes would be burnt down.
According to the victim, they are also threatened with voodoo.
The cartel gang are involved in forging visas as well as arranging ‘green card’ marriages to Spaniards. This is in order for the Nigerian girls to become legal residents in Spain.
The woman’s testimonial – given in Málaga last July – resulted to the arrest of a total of 18 gang members across the country – two each in Sevilla and León, three in Madrid, and 12 in Málaga.
thinkSPAIN, February 20, 2012
