The government of Oyo State said on Sunday that it will ensure the return of an indigene of the state, Mrs. Peace Ufuoma Busari, who was recently put up for sale in Lebanon on Facebook.
The Senior Special Assistant on Diaspora Affairs to Governor Seyi Makinde, Bolanle Sarumi Aliyu, stated this in Ibadan, affirming the commitment of the Oyo State government towards ensuring her safe return.
Mrs. Peace Ufuoma Busari, a resident of the state, was recently rescued in Lebanon by the Lebanese authorities after her employer put her up for sale on Facebook.
A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Makinde, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, quoted the SSA Diaspora to the governor as stating that the state was determined to ensure that Peace and many other residents of the state trafficked abroad, are rescued and gainfully employed back home.
The statement indicated that Mrs. Busari had recently visited the family of the trafficked lady in Ibadan following her father’s death.
She assured the lady’s mother that if Peace is willing to return home, the state would ensure her safe return once the COVID-19-induced closure of airspace is lifted.
The statement quoted Hon. Sarumi Aliyu as saying: “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, 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 $4000.
“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.”
Hon. Sarumi Aliyu, who maintained that agreement she had with Peace Busari was that once the Airspace is opened, she would be flown back into Oyo State, said the professional hairdresser appeared to be the breadwinner of her family.
She called on well-meaning Oyo residents and those in the Diaspora, who are willing to support the Oyo State government in its resolve to bring Peace Ufuoma Busari back to Nigeria and establish her in the trade she’s trained in to contact her office.
