Nigerian allegedly put up for sale by Lebanese on Facebook

A Lebanese identified as Wael Jerro has claimed on Facebook that he has a Nigerian woman for sale at $1000.

The director-general of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons Dame Julie Okah-Donli told The Guardian on Tuesday that NAPTIP investigators were already working on the case.

Renee Abisaad, who first shared the news on her Instagram page, told The Guardian that Lebanese authorities were already involved in the matter.

Information of the biodata page of the international passport Jerro shared identified the Nigerian as Peace Ufuoma, born on May 19, 1988.

The passport was issued in Ibadan May 23, 2018, and will expire on May 22, 2023.

Although Wael Jerro’s account could not be found, the Facebook marketplace Jerro tagged in his post – Buy & Sell In Lebanon (Original) الأصلي – still appears on the social media platform.

Calls to the phone number listed on the Facebook page were not returned. But the operators of the page said it is only to facilitate buying and selling between interested parties and are not responsible for what is posted on the page.

“We are not legally responsible for an opinion, subject or comment, or for the direct broadcast, photos or publication published on our page from any subscriber,” information on the About section of the page said. The information was translated into English from Arabic.

The operators of the page also claimed that they are not responsible for the opinions, pictures and comments posted on the personal page of any of its subscriber and do “not check the subscriber or the personal subscriber page when agreeing to the request to join our page.”

Abisaad suggested Jerro may have deactivated his own page following a barrage of backlashes from Nigerians on Facebook.

“The whole nation went for him,” Abisaad, who was the second runner up in the 2013 edition of Miss Africa Lebanon said.

Lebanon again!

Two Nigerian women were rescued from Lebanon’s capital city Beirut last month.

One of the victims, an indigene of Oyo State, was trafficked to Beirut in September 2019. The other is an Ebonyi indigene was a salesgirl in Lagos before being trafficked to the Middle East country, also in September 2019.

“Both victims travelled by air as their visas and other travelling documents were procured by the suspect,” the Lagos Zonal Commander of the Agency, Mr Daniel Atokolo said.

Atokolo said a suspected trafficker was arrested and another mastermind, known as David, who was believed to have played a major role in the recruitment of the victims was at large.

Before the March rescue of the women, another Nigerian lady was freed from forced labour in the same country.

The story of 23-year-old Omolola Ajayi caught national attention after she posted a video on social media, detailing how she was deceived with a promise of a teaching job in Lebanon.

Another Nigerian woman Kikelomo Olayide, a mother of two, was rescued in February. She was rescued after her husband petitioned NAPTIP

The commander said the victim was allegedly trafficked by a 54–year-old Lebanese in October 2019.

Atokolo said that the suspect trafficked Olayide to Lebanon under the pretence of employing her as a caregiver to his aged mother in Lebanon.

“However, upon the victim’s arrival at Lebanon, she was received by an agent, who also handed her over to a family, where she was exploited as a domestic servant.“The victim also reported that she was sexually harassed while working for the said family,” the NAPTIP Lagos Commander said.

According to Atokolo, when Olayide’s husband approached the suspect to return his wife, he was threatened.“The suspect demanded that the victim would only be returned if the victim’s family provides another person to replace her. This is so sad,” the state commander

said.