Posted by By BONIFACE NZAMA, Calabar on
A 15-year-old girl has thrown her family and community in Cross River State into gloom following the discovery that she sold herself into slavery for a paltry N15,000.
A 15-year-old girl has thrown her family and community in Cross River State into gloom following the discovery that she sold herself into slavery for a paltry N15,000.
The girl, Alice Obogo, the daughter of the clan head of Abouchiche community in the Bekwara Local Government Area of Cross River has disappeared since April 1, this year following an agreement which she signed with a 21-year-old woman identified as Agnes.
It is suspected that Alice is somewhere around the country or has already been ferried abroad by kingpins of the booming illicit trade for prostitution or slave labour.
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Alice deepened her parents' sorrow when it was found after she went missing that all photographs and other items, which could facilitate her being located had either been taken away or destroyed, apparently on Agnes' instruction.
The agreement between Alice Obogo and Agnes, which was recently discovered by the victim's family indicated that the unsuspecting girl had been taken to Edo State, where her fate would be decided.
Only Alice and her 'mistress" signed the agreement which the family has handed over to the Cross River State Social Mobilisation, Policy and Technical Committee (SOMTEC), soliciting government intervention into the matter.
The document reads in part: 'This is an agreement between Miss Agnes Odey and Miss Alice Obogo, that Miss Agnes is going to take Miss Alice Obogo to Edo State to go and sell."
According to the document, Alice was sold 'to Miss Agnes Odey (her captor) for N15,000, starting from April 1, 2005."
The agreement further stated that part payment was given to the 15-year-old girl at Abouchiche, before she embarked on the journey with her 'mistress," to an undisclosed destination in Edo State.
In the undated one-page agreement, Miss Obogo was warned against pregnancy, keeping boyfriends, stealing, fighting and other unruly conducts.
'There should be no stealing, no fighting, no keeping of boyfriend, and no unwanted pregnancy," the document warned.
Alice's father, Chief Obogo narrated how the agreement between her daughter and the captor was found during a futile search for the teenager. 'Information got to us that the last day they saw Alice, she was with Agnes who was preparing to travel to Edo State.
'Since it was difficult to trace Agnes, we decided to arrest her friend (name withheld), a student of Government Secondary School, Abouchiche.
'It was in the friend's house that the police discovered the agreement, though the poor student seemed ignorant about the business.
'Apart from the agreement, the police were also able to get the mobile phone number of Agnes through the friend."
It was gathered that Agnes had been evasive, as the police had tried various means to arrange a meeting with her, through her phone number.
According to Chief Obogo, 'the first time the police called her number she claimed to be in Kano.
'As the discussion progressed, the policemen pretended that they were her colleagues, saying that there was urgent need for them to meet for a business.
'Agnes agreed to meet with them (the policemen) at a particular point in Edo State, but on the day the meeting was to hold, her handset was switched off.
'It was then we began to suspect that she has some agents around who may have informed her that the police are trailing her."
Later, a delegation including security agents were sent to the residential address of the suspect in Edo State, where they were reportedly told that Agnes had travelled out of the state.
In Edo State, it was gathered that some kingpins of the illicit trade were also searching for Agnes. They had allegedly paid her some money for the supply of four girls, but she was yet to deliver the 'cargo."
Apart from Alice who was successfully taken away in April, Agnes was alleged to have made a recent attempt to take four other girls away from the Abouchiche community, but ran out of luck as the kids were intercepted at Ikom Local Government Area in Cross River State.
While Agnes allegedly escaped arrest, the clan head, Chief Obogo said the lucky girls included one Justina Obogo (14), Comfort Oko (9), Janet Oko (14) and Ogbene Ushie (15).
Chief Obogo continued, 'the four girls had already been taken from Abouchiche to somewhere in Ikom, for onward journey to Edo.
'When they got to Ikom, Agnes was perhaps informed that security men were looking for her, so it became difficult to continue with the journey.
'As a result, she later directed from her hideout that the four kids be taken to Okunde in the Boki Local Government Area, where she would later go and pick them.
'From Ikom, they were taken to Okunde and abandoned at the motor park.
'In fact, we suspected that Agnes could not go to the motor park to pick them because the photographs of the kids were already everywhere.
'We even travelled to Lagos, Ondo, Kano and Maiduguri, because we were told that some of these places are exit routes, where such children are taken to Italy, Cameroun and other foreign countries.
'It was at Okunde that we finally found the girls and brought them back home," the clan head said.
But for the photographs, it was apparent that the children would not have been recovered, since Agnes had allegedly changed their names after they were captured.
One of the village chiefs, Augustine Ushie Oko, whose daughters were also victims, said 'two of my daughters were taken away.The elderly one called Janet, was re-named Blessing."
Chief Oko continued, 'even when we got to Okunde and we were calling our children to come, instead of coming to us, they were rather running away, saying they wanted to see their Aunty, Agnes. However, we were able to bring them back home, after which they were taken to church for prayers so we thank God Almighty for what He has done."
Meanwhile, the search for Alice Obogo continues.