Air Peace Chairman Allen Onyema has announced his airline’s readiness to repatriate Nigerian minors trafficked to Ivory Coast as sex slaves, following disturbing revelations by social activist VeryDarkMan (VDM). The businessman’s intervention comes after viral videos showed underage girls detailing their harrowing experiences of being drugged and transported through Niger Republic before exploitation in West Africa’s commercial capital.
Onyema condemned human trafficking as “inhumane, callous, and utterly ungodly,” pledging not only free airlift services but comprehensive post-rescue care. “We will facilitate their immediate medical evaluation and treatment at Duchess International Hospital, Ikeja, at no cost,” he stated, urging Nigeria’s embassy in Abidjan to coordinate identification and documentation of victims for swift evacuation.
The aviation magnate called for governmental intervention to ensure the survivors’ rehabilitation, emphasizing: “These children deserve education and family reunification, not abandonment after their ordeal.” His offer mirrors growing private sector responses to Nigeria’s human trafficking crisis, following NAPTIP’s February rescue of 21 minors in Niger State and NIDCOM’s 2024 repatriation of 13 girls from Ghana.
Authorities estimate over 20,000 Nigerian women and girls currently endure forced prostitution across West and Central Africa, with Ivory Coast emerging as a prime destination due to porous borders and high demand for commercial sex workers. The federal government faces mounting pressure to strengthen cross-border anti-trafficking collaborations and implement tougher penalties for perpetrators.
As international organizations commend Air Peace’s humanitarian gesture, child rights advocates stress that sustainable solutions require upgraded surveillance at land borders, community awareness programs in vulnerable regions, and specialized trauma centers for returning victims. The coming weeks will test the operationalization of this rescue mission amid logistical and diplomatic complexities inherent in international human trafficking cases.
This development spotlights West Africa’s expanding human trafficking networks, with criminal syndicates increasingly targeting vulnerable minors through deceptive employment schemes. Industry analysts note Onyema’s intervention continues his pattern of corporate social responsibility, recalling Air Peace’s 2019 evacuation of Nigerians during South Africa’s xenophobic attacks and 2023 free flights for Sudan war evacuees.
