THE NATION
It has been five years since Baleqees (surname withheld) returned from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia where she had gone in search of greener pastures, but the scars of her failed expedition remain visible.
Because of her ugly experience in the Middle-East country, Baleqees had become taciturn and hardly talks unless you go out of your way to engage her in serious jokes. Her story, like those of some other Nigerians who had visited the Arab country before her, is as chilling as they come.
“I wish I could reveal my identity,” she said as she launched into some details about her ugly experience.
“I want you to pass this message on to African ladies, especially Nigerians. Many are being trafficked to Saudi Arabia to suffer.”
For 31-year-old Baleqees, her original plan was to go to Canada or somewhere else in Europe. Unfortunately, she was unable to secure a visa, hence one of her father’s friends convinced her to go to Riyadh and her father consented.
She was, however, least prepared for the reality that confronted her in Saudi Arabia’s capital city.
“We were promised lucrative jobs in Riyadh. Unknown to us, those agents were sheep in wolf’s clothing.
“While they acted like good people, they did not mind trafficking us to Riyadh to die,” she said.
It was not until she got to the oil-rich country that she discovered that all the promises made by the agent that facilitated her journey from Nigeria were a sham.
Contrary to the good life that was promised her, Baleqees was taken into servitude and forced to serve 14 people.
