A 30-year-old single mother from Sagamu, Ogun State, Olaonipekun Adenike, has shared the harrowing story of her journey to Libya in search of a better life—an ordeal marked by exploitation, segxwal violence, modern-day slavery, and survival against unimaginable odds.
In an exclusive interview with Punch, Adenike revealed that she was lured into the journey by a family friend who claimed it was a reward for kindness shown by her late mother. The woman promised to help her secure a domestic job in Libya, with freedom guaranteed after three months.
“I was told I’d only work for a short time, then start my life,” Adenike said. Instead, she embarked on a torturous route from Sagamu to Lagos, then to Kano, and across the Niger Republic into the Sahara Desert—a journey that nearly cost her life.
“We spent three months in the desert. People died. There was no food or water. We drank urine to survive,” she recalled, her voice filled with pain.
The nightmare escalated at a border crossing where she said local police officers raped her and other women before allowing them to proceed. “I never imagined I’d be raped just trying to seek a better life,” she said.
When she finally arrived in Libya, the truth hit hard—she had been sold. “The woman who claimed to be helping me said I had delayed too much and sold me to a Ghanaian man. My name was changed to Ibrahim Aishat, and I was issued a fake Ghanaian passport,” Adenike revealed.
The new “owner” handed her over to an Arab man who used her as a housemaid for 18 months. “I worked every day while the Ghanaians came monthly to collect money. I couldn’t even buy clothes. I was owned,” she said.
A brief glimmer of hope came when she tried to retrieve travel documents through the embassy, but she was arrested on her way and thrown into prison. Despite her mother selling off land to pay the police, Adenike said she was left to rot in jail for a month.
Eventually, a sympathetic officer helped her escape—only for her to fall into the hands of sex traffickers. “They took me to a brothel. I was stripped naked so customers could choose. I spent two weeks being raped repeatedly,” she said.
She seized an opportunity to escape one morning by scaling a fence and ran to the Nigerian embassy. After two weeks in their care, she was repatriated via a government-chartered flight. “ We arrived in Port Harcourt, were profiled, and taken to a cultural centre in Abeokuta by the Ogun State Government,” she said.
Now back in Nigeria with her two children—one born before her ordeal and another after her return—Adenike is using her voice to warn others.
“Most Nigerians in Libya are suffering—either in prison or working under cruel conditions. Many are deceived, thinking they’re heading to Europe. It’s all lies. Poverty and ignorance are fueling this crisis,” she concluded.
Her story adds to the growing number of Nigerian returnees recounting brutal experiences in North Africa, underscoring the urgent need for stronger awareness campaigns, grassroots education, and better economic support for vulnerable communities.