Njoku Nnena, a 22-year-old Nigerian woman with physical disabilities, was saved after being trafficked to Mali for pr0$titution.
Prosper Michael, the founder of the Global Anti-Human Trafficking Organization, revealed this in a statement on Monday, April 6, 2026, according to Punch.
The victim stated in an interview that family obligations and financial difficulties forced her to look for opportunities outside of her home state.
The victim described how she started her journey in Onitsha and then relocated to Lagos, where she met people who connected her to traffickers.
“I wanted to support my three-year-old son and help my mother. That was why I decided to travel,” she explained.
“In Lagos, I was introduced to a woman around an under bridge. From there, arrangements were made for me to travel,” she said.
She was subsequently transported through Cotonou in the Benin Republic before arriving in Mali, where she was handed over to another member of the trafficking network.
On arrival, Nnena said she was placed in a house with other Nigerian girls under the control of a “madam.”
“We were forced into pr0$titution and asked to send money to them, even though we didn’t understand the terms,” she alleged.
Her ordeal worsened due to her health condition.
Nnena, who suffers from epilepsy resulting from a childhood stroke, said she ran out of medication during the journey.
“I didn’t have my drugs with me, and my condition became worse. I couldn’t continue what they asked me to do,” she said.
She was eventually sent back to Nigeria and later rescued with the intervention of GAHTO, arriving on Easter Friday.
Speaking on the development, her mother, Ipe Ikenna Lora, recounted her daughter’s long-standing health challenges.
“She started having convulsions at the age of two, which later led to coma and developed into epilepsy with memory loss,” she said.
Lora added that the situation contributed to the breakdown of her marriage.