Ramatu Ahmed, the Nigerian Ambassador to Burkina Faso has disclosed that over 10,000 Nigerian girls are forced into prostitution in Burkina Faso.
News Agency of Nigeria in Ouagadougou on Monday reported that the victims of sex-trade were mainly underage girls kept in appalling conditions and in mining camps across the West African country.
Ahmed, who had been in Burkina Faso since August 2017, said that over 200 Nigerian girls had been voluntarily repatriated this year, adding that many of the girls who were promised jobs in the country and Europe by the human traffickers are not willing to return home.
“The spate of human trafficking here in Burkina Faso is a big concern to the embassy because presently, we have nothing less than 10,00 Nigerian girls who have been trafficked into Burkina Faso as commercial sex workers and most of these girls are underage, most left school and are roaming about doing commercial sex work in Burkina Faso.
“This apart from being a dent to our country, it is also a sort of concern as far as their health is concerned. This is very serious to us and most of the girls who want to go back as a result of this voluntary repatriation do it because they were tricked, they did not know the condition there are going to found themselves here.
The Ambassador said the Embassy is partnering with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) office in Ouagadougou to assist in the voluntary repatriation of some of the victims of human trafficking.