On a breezy evening in January 2021, 6 teens left their families at an IDP camp in Nigeria for the promise of jobs and the assurance that they would be able to send money home in a matter of months. Instead, they were trafficked. Via WMC WomenUnderSiege
According to sources familiar with Madame Joy’s operations , most of the trafficked women and girls are from Benue, a claim Mneater supports. Women and displaced persons in conflict-rift states like Benue are at greater risk of being trafficked, said Barrister Ruth Evon-Benson Idahosa, executive director of, an international organization working to prevent sex slavery and sexual violence.
Aondoaver Tsenougu, staff at the Benue State Emergency Management Agency — the agency that manages the affairs of IDP camps in the state — said that the actions of the IDP representatives were without the agency’s knowledge, claiming that SEMA only became aware of the case after the women were rescued and brought in for questioning by NAPTIP.
Tsenougu told me that IDP camp officials allegedly collected an extra payment of N100,000 from Madame Joy in exchange for pitching a “life-changing chance” to the youths’ parents, and claiming that the trafficker would pay a monthly fee of N20,000 directly to the family of each girl.Both Geoffery and Emmanuel denied knowing that Madame Joy was a sex trafficker and refuted allegations of collecting bribes from her.
“No one forced the parents to release their girls,” said Emmanuel. “Madame Joy met with the girls’ parents twice. We asked Madame Joy to come with her husband before we released their children to her. I didn’t know she wanted the girls for prostitution. I did not force them to go.” Madame Joy’s business, one source said, may extend even beyond the Nigerian border into the Republic of Benin, which borders Kaima.organizer, said that until the government begins to prioritize and humanize displaced women and girls, “we will not see the kind of impact we need to make sure these groups are safe.”Emmanuel and Tsenougu have since been relieved of their duties and sent out of the camp.