The Oyo State government has pledged that it will do everything in its power to ensure the return of one of its daughters, Peace Ufuoma Busari, who was recently put up for sale in Lebanon on Facebook.
Making the pledge in Ibadan on Sunday, the Senior Special Assistant on Diaspora Affairs to Governor Seyi Makinde, Bolanle Sarumi Aliyu, in a statement issued by Taiwo Adisa, Chief Press Secretary to the governor, said the was determined to ensure that Busari and many other natives of the state trafficked abroad are rescued and gainfully employed back home.
Busari, a native of the state, was recently rescued by the Lebanese authorities after her employer put her up for sale on Facebook.
The statement indicated that representatives of the state government had visited the family of the trafficked lady in Ibadan, following her father’s death.
She assured the lady’s mother that if she is willing to return home, the state would ensure her safe return once the COVID-19-induced closure of the nation’s airspace is lifted.
“The purpose of my visit to your family today is to reaffirm that the Oyo State government is committed to her cause.
“Since the day the Oyo State government found out that Peace Busari was put up for sale and she was linked up with us by the director-general of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDC), Hon. Abike Dabiri Erewa, we have been speaking with her. We got her contact from the Hon. Dabiri Erewa and the Nigerian Embassy in Lebanon.
“She explained her situation to me, how her boss couldn’t afford to pay her anymore and decided to sell her online and how another family took her in. So, she is working off the contract basically. Apparently, the traffickers made her sign a contract that she had to work for the time being or she would be charged $4,000.
“But the issue has been resolved by the Nigerian Embassy in Lebanon and any time she is willing to leave the country, she is allowed to leave,” said Aliyu.
Aliyu, who maintained that agreement she had with Busari was that, once the airspace is opened, she would be flown back into Oyo State, said the professional hairdresser appeared to be the bread-winner of her family.
She called on well-meaning Oyo natives and those in the Diaspora, who are willing to support the state government in its resolve to bring Busari back to Nigeria and establish her in the trade she’s trained in to contact her office.
