Nigerian Woman Trafficked To Iraq And Allegedly Raped By Employer Pleads For Help To Return Home
Omowunmi, who said she was living in Ekiti State in Southwestern Nigeria, told SaharaReporters that she was trafficked to Iraq on October 7, 2023 by a friend of her sister’s husband.
A27-year-old Nigerian woman who identified herself as Francis Julianah Omowunmi, who was trafficked to Iraq has made a desperate plea for help to return home after she was allegedly raped and abused by her employer.
Omowunmi, who said she was living in Ekiti State in Southwestern Nigeria, told SaharaReporters that she was trafficked to Iraq on October 7, 2023 by a friend of her sister’s husband.
However, she was syndicated to another agent in Akure, Ondo State capital, who then sent her to another agent in Lagos, one Alhaja Nafisat, who deceitfully transported her to Iraq with promises of a better life.
Omowunmi said her employer not only raped and physically assaulted her but also conspired with his friends, wife, and children to threaten her with death if she reported the assault to the authorities or her family.
She said the assault left her deeply traumatized and fearing for her life after her employer allegedly conspired with others to perform an unsafe abortion on her, causing severe pain and threatening to kill her if she spoke out.
Seeking help, she confided in her sister and a friend, who warned her to stay silent due to the risks posed by her Iraqi employer. However, when the pain became unbearable, she informed her employer’s wife, who took her to the hospital, where she was drugged and an unsafe abortion was carried out.
Speaking with SaharaReporters, Omowunmi said her employer raped her and threatened to kill her if she told anyone. Despite her sister’s advice to remain silent, she eventually told his wife after missing her period.
“He gave me drugs, saying it was for a headache, but I knew something was wrong,” she said. “I initially refused to take them, but when he threatened to beat me, I took them.”
She said that after the incident, she started experiencing stomach pains. Her employer eventually asked her to leave his house, saying he didn’t want to see her anymore.
“I packed my things, and his wife took me to her father’s house,” she added.
Omowunmi further explained, “They asked me what happened but I told them I did not fight with Baba because my sister had advised me not to tell anybody about what happened.
“The following day, they took me to the office and I explained everything to one of the girls there.
“I was taking care of two kids but when the fight started, my boss took the kids away to his father’s house.
“Baba came to my room every day and claimed he wanted to take clothes and gives them to his wife.
“That day he raped me; I was arranging clothes when he came in and stood behind me. When I asked him what he wanted, he started beating me.
“When I asked him why he was beating me, he punched my eyes. I could not record what happened because I did not know such a thing was going to happen.
“After my boss raped me, I explained to my sister that I felt like I was pregnant but she told me not to worry.
“However, when my boss’s wife took me to the office, the girl I told what happened told my boss’s wife and when she asked me, I told her the truth. The office said they wanted to do a test on me.
“I followed the woman to a hospital and after sometime, they brought a paper which I did not know what they wrote in it and my boss’s wife said there was nothing wrong with me. I asked her why I had not seen my period but the woman took me to another hospital to do another test.”
Omowunmi continued, “Before we went to the second hospital, they added something inside the water and gave it to me. When we got to the hospital, they asked me to sleep. I tried questioning them but before I knew it, I slept off.
“I did not know what happened again but when I woke up, I just saw three people, my box, one male doctor, one female doctor and I saw things that looked like they wanted to do abortion for someone.
“I asked what happened but they did not say anything. When I tried to stand up, I could not stand up again. I found out that I was feeling pains in my stomach. My boss’s wife took me back to her house but I was not able to walk.
“She was just giving me tea every day and when I asked what happened to me, if you said that I was not pregnant, why did you give me something and tampered with my private parts?
“She only said I would be fine. She said I should not tell anyone what happened and that she would make sure that my boss was jailed. She took me to the police and we made a statement and from there, they took the case to court.
“But now, I no longer understand what they are saying. Since the day they took the case to court, we would go to court and they would ask us to come back, that they would arrest my boss.”
She said that one day, her employer visited her madam’s father’s house and admitted to raping her. He pleaded not to be sent to jail and promised to give her anything she wanted.
“However, since the day we withdrew the case and came back to the house, my madam has been maltreating me. For six months, she locked me inside and said that I was smelling. They did not give me food,” she said.
“I have never felt well again. I kept having stomach pains and I can’t stand up and I can’t bend down.”
She said she called Mr. Damilola of Hopes Haven Foundation who helped in rescuing her and she was taken to the office.
However, though she was told that she would be returned to Nigeria, nothing has been done.
According to her, her boss brought one of his friends who compelled her not to tell the court that her boss raped her.
“I asked him why I should tell the court that my boss did not rape me when he raped me and beat me. I reminded him that the lawyer warned me not to lie or I will be jailed for five years in prison.
“Last week they brought one paper they wrote in Arabic language which I did not understand. They asked me to sign it. I asked them to translate it into English, which they did and after I read it, I refused to sign it,” she said.
She said she refused to sign the document presented to her because her boss and his accomplices claimed in it that she had fabricated the rape allegation to demand her unpaid salary.
They claimed in the statement they wanted her to sign, that she has always been treated nicely and respectfully by her employer and that she has abandoned the lawsuit in court.
“Meanwhile, they did not pay me six months’ salary, and I have also spent four months in the office [of the agency that trafficked her] without salary, and I have kids and family at home,” she said.
Omowunmi’s harrowing ordeal has again mirrored the dangers faced by many women lured into domestic servitude abroad.
SaharaReporters in December 2024 reported how a 28-year-old Nigerian woman, Odunayo Eniola Isaac, who hails from Osun State in the South-West region of Nigeria trafficked to Iraq, made a distressing and heart-wrenching plea for assistance to return home.
Allegedly, Odunayo was a victim of human trafficking perpetrated by one Alhaja Yusuf Shakira, notoriously known as Mama Uganda, who deceitfully transported her to Iraq with promises of a better life.
But having endured almost two years of inhumane treatment, brutal physical torture, and degrading dehumanisation at the hands of her Iraqi employer, Saba Akram, and his spouse, Odunayo’s emotional and psychological well-being was severely compromised.
Overwhelmed with despair and desperation, she raised the alarm and implored the Nigerian authorities to facilitate her urgent return to Nigeria, lest she loses her life.
After SaharaReporters’ story about her ordeal in the middle eastern country, Odunayo returned to Nigeria in January following intervention of the officials of the Nigerian mission in Jordan, that oversees Iraq.
