‘10,000 Nigerian teenage girls held as sex slaves in Morocco, Tunisia’

Bola Badmus, Abuja - 26.06.2009

THE House of Representatives received with shock on Thursday, news that about 10,000 Nigerian teenage girls are held as sex slaves in both Morocco and Tunisia, with most of them already infected with AIDS, tuberculosis, among others.

The House Committee on Disapora, headed by Honourable Abike Dabiri- Erewa, said the news emanated from a group, Christ Without Borders, promising that the House would take up the matter without further delay.

The coordinator of the group, Garrick Taiye, told the committee at an interactive session that the affected teenage girls, with ages ranging from 13 to 17, were mostly from the Southern part of Nigeria, with Edo State leading the pack.

While urging the Federal Government to intervene in the matter, he said the affected Nigerians were currently stranded in North African countries.

Findings, according to the coordinator, showed that the young girls were transported from Spain to Libya and Morocco and were being used as sex slaves as they arrived.

“It is quite unfortunate that some of them have been infected. We are looking at locating these people and relocating them back to the country,” he said.