‘Promised Bakery Jobs’: How GAHTO and NAPTIP Freed Nigerian Survivors of Trafficking in Côte d’Ivoire
As the 2026 World Day Against Trafficking in Persons approaches, survivors recount how false promises of work abroad led them into forced labour, prostitution and sexual exploitation. In interviews with VON News, young women from Benue State describe being lured to Côte d’Ivoire with offers of bakery jobs, only to find themselves trapped by traffickers. Seventeen-year-old Monica and 18-year-old Juliet say they were recruited in Kaduna and told their work was in Abuja. Instead, they were smuggled across the border, isolated in remote communities and forced to lie about their situation to anyone who called. They eventually escaped with help from sympathetic locals and were rescued by GAHTO representatives working with NAPTIP. Another survivor, 38-year-old Monica Tamah, and her 22-year-old daughter, Joy, share how debt-bonded prostitution became their fate after arriving in Côte d’Ivoire. They say traffickers deducted transport “fees” from their earnings and forced them into daily exploitation until GAHTO and partner agencies secured their release six months later. GAHTO and NAPTIP highlight these rescues as part of ongoing efforts to dismantle trafficking networks. Advocates urge Nigerians to verify job offers abroad through official channels, report suspicious recruiters promptly, and strengthen cross-border cooperation to protect vulnerable youths.
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