‘How I dumped my kids for botched Libya trip-Hairdresser

One of the four women saved from being trafficked to Libya last week has said she dumped her two
children for her husband for the botched trip.

Twenty-six-year-old Cecilia Bankole, a hairdresser and three others, were rescued from a suspected trafficker, Ganiyat Ajijola, who was arrested at Abule-Egba , Lagos by Rapid Response Squad (RRS) operatives, last Friday.

Her husband, she said, resisted her plan to abandon the children in search of job in Libya.
According to her, when the issue was discussed with her husband initially, he disagreed with the plan.
Bankole said:

“I told my husband to allow me to go so that I would have an opportunity to raise funds for the family. I pleaded with him but he insisted in having the custody of his children. Although, I am a hairdresser but I have not graduated. So, going to Libya to work as an artisan would enable me raise funds for my freedom as well as take care of my family. Even, when my mother pleaded with him that she would be taking care of the children while I will be away, he still declined. However, after much persuasion, my husband threatened that if I go, he would take the custody of the children and would never allow me to see them again,” she added.

The suspected trafficker, she said, did not tell them how long they would stay in Libya.

“The trafficker didn’t tell us the number of years we are going to spend in Libya. She only told us the due date of the passport and that we are going by road,” she said.
But her mother, Mrs Maria Bankole, said the suspect told her that her daughter would be re – united with her after two years.
“I was informed that a big madam, whom Ganiat Ajijola was working for in Libya needs hairdressers to help her manage her shop. Upon hearing that the people will be going abroad, I volunteered my daughter because she is a hairdresser. I begged her husband but he declined to allow her go on the trip but I have prayed about it and God said she should go. That is why I am encouraging her”, she said.

Mrs Bankole, a prophetess, added:

“I followed them to the point where they were arrested because I want to know Ajijola before their departure. I am not aware they were going by road. They told me Ajijola was taking them to Abeokuta to arrange an international passport for them”.

RRS operatives, who had been trailing the suspect for weeks were acting on a tip–off from the Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.
The suspect and her victims have been immediately transferred to National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Person (NAPTIP).

The Nation