Story Story with Uncle TeePee: The damage is already done

This one hits hard. Nobody should be deceived like this

Ene’s story should be a cautionary tale for all (Image generated using ChatGPT)

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Today’s story is wild, sad, touching, and a cautionary tale. A story of betrayal that buttresses the fact that we should all be discerning with our dealings with people.

Ene, a beautiful young teenage lady, is the protagonist in this story. She is from a broken home, her parents are divorced, and she lives with her father (Papa Ene). However, she also maintains a cordial relationship with visits to her mother (Mama Ene), who lives in a separate part of town. On one of such visits, she told her mother a horrifying tale.

Ene’s Story

One hot afternoon, Ene returned home from running errands for Papa Ene. She met her father’s friend Ekaite. Ene greeted her and dropped the food and groceries she bought in the kitchen. She went to the room to freshen up and relax after the long journey. Thirty minutes later, Ekaite called out to Ene to come to the living room. Ene closed the book she was reading and went to the living room. Papa Ene was not around; he had gone to the shop to conclude a transaction. Ekaite started with small talk with Ene, they talked about the society, gossiped about market women, and the latest Nollywood movies. The discussion then took a more serious tone. Ekaite started by complimenting Ene’s beauty and body shape, then proceeded to ask her is she was interested in travelling abroad for a job opportunity to be able to make money. Ene was excited and replied affirmatively. Ekaite told Ene to come to her salon next week so that they can start the process. Ene was happy!

Ene arrived at Ekaite’s saloon bright and early. She greeted the beauticians and proceeded to Ekaite’s office for the JAPA discussion. She learned that the job was a housekeeper role in Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast). She outlined the travel details, date of travel, and other logistics required. Ekaite even offered to “glam” her up with a hairdo and other beauty treatments. Ene listened intently and was satisfied with the plan.

Ese was the lady that Ekaite directed Ene to meet on the day of travel. Ese was in charge of the travel; she was the one who paid the fare for the travel from Nigeria to Ivory Coast. The travel was smooth with no issues. The bus arrived in Abidjan late in the evening, Ene and some other immigrants from Nigeria were met with various hosts holding signs with different names. Ene saw her name on a yellow cardboard and the driver took her to a guest house. The host, Mahmoud, received her and gave her a room to stay.

Three days after her arrival, Mahmoud called Ene and some other girls into a hall in the guest house. He was blunt and spoke broken English with a strong French accent. He told the girls that their job was prostitution! Ene was stunned!

In the second week, Mahmoud was livid, shouting and ranting. Ene had refused to “service customers”. She has been adamant from the day the announcement was made that she will not do prostitution and asked to return home. She also called Ekaite and Ese, explaining the situation, and cried bitterly at the deception of the JAPA job they sold to her. She begged to return home, but they said there was no money for her transportation back; they told her to obey her handlers and save money from the proceeds of the “job” to gather a return trip fare.

Ene woke up in a poorly lit room, which was stale and cold. She felt tired and weak, she tried to sit up and felt an excruciating pain on he abdomen, she felt her tummy, and it was bandaged. She has been operated on. A surgery was performed on her without her consent or prior knowledge of what procedure was done to her. Over the next few days, her condition got worse, the smell got worse, and eating was hard. Mahmoud came at night and said she has to leave because she was of no value and her condition is affecting other girls. She was put at the back of a coaster bus departing Abidjan for Jibowu, Lagos. Dumped at the back with the luggage.

She arrived in Lagos in the morning, with no family of friend in the state, she begged the receptionist at the bus terminal to make a call to her mother. Her mother cried after Ene narrated her ordeal. She also sent money for transport back to Delta State through the receptionist's account.

Ene returned to Delta state. Mama Ene was livid and reported her daughter’s travails to the police. Ekaite and Ese were both arrested, are being investigated, and will be charged in court soon. The Interpol has also been petitioned to track Mahmoud in Abidjan for his arrest and persecution.

Now here comes the sad and bad part: Ene was taken to the hospital to treat her wounds, and what the doctors discovered was shocking. The botched surgery performed on Ene was to remove her womb, to prevent her from getting pregnant while doing the prostitution job they planned for her. WOW! Such wickedness, a teenage girl rendered barren.

In all this, we need to find out “was Papa Ene involved”? Was he also deceived by Ekaite to believe she was helping his daughter with a better job in Ivory Coast?

The Lessons

We have to have a discerning spirit or a critical mind on too-good-to-be-true offers. Remember, all that glitters is not gold. People always have their intentions and motives in whatever they do; hence, we should look out for ourselves, too. Nobody’s perfect. This was a clear case of deceit, breach of trust, and a crime; the police have been involved, and the offenders have been apprehended.

parent should creat an environment where their children can discuss anything with them (image generated using Copilot)

Finally, parents should love their kids and cultivate an atmosphere where their children can confide in them and share their plans with them.