A Nigerian woman was brought before the Kédougou High Court yesterday, Monday, for human trafficking. This follows information received by the regional branch of the National Division for Combating Migrant Trafficking and Related Practices (DNLT) in Kédougou last Saturday, reporting the presence in Bantaco of a young Nigerian girl, a presumed victim of trafficking for sexual exploitation.

The informant of the police officers of this specialized unit of the Directorate of Air and Border Police (DPAF) had provided a precise description of the victim, identified as V. Onovugha, as well as of his supposed pimp, L. Daniel.

According to the information gathered, the young girl was subjected to repeated abuse by her "protégé", who refused her food when she failed to pay the fees from her prostitution.

This is how agents of the Regional Office of Arrests, Surveillance and Tracking (BISF) arrested the suspect at her home in Bantaco.

Questioned by investigators, L. Daniel admitted to some of the charges against her. She revealed that she had been involved in human trafficking since March 2025, relying on a network of collaborators established in several countries in the subregion, including Nigeria, Benin, Mali, and Senegal. Some accomplices helped her create false travel documents, while others took charge of transporting the victim to Kédougou via buses and motorcycle taxis, according to Seneweb sources.

The pimp admitted to harboring V. Onovugha while demanding full reimbursement of two million CFA francs, presented as expenses incurred for her trip to Senegal. This sum was to be reimbursed exclusively from the proceeds of forced prostitution. However, L. Daniel denied physically abusing his victim.

The investigation revealed significant inconsistencies between the pimp's and her victim's accounts regarding the amounts actually paid. V. Onovugha stated that he did not know the total amount of his payments, but estimated that it was well over one million CFA francs, over a period of six months of exploitation. L. Daniel, however, claimed to have received only 300,000 CFA francs.

Following the investigation, L. Daniel was brought before the public prosecutor at the Kédougou High Court on Monday, August 18, 2025. She is being prosecuted for criminal conspiracy, complicity in forgery, and human trafficking.

At the same time, V. Onovugha was entrusted the same day to the reception center of the NGO La Lumière de Kédougou for her psychological care and social reintegration.