VIDEO: How My Arab Employers Drew My Blood, Beat Me Till I Fainted — Libya Returnee
A Libya returnee, Mercy Oluwagbenga, has revealed how her Arab employers repeatedly drew her blood and beat her until she fainted while she was trapped in the North African country.
In an interview with Channel Television, Oluwagbenga, who recently gained public attention after a viral video showed her crying out for help, said her ordeal began when her employers started withdrawing her blood under the guise of medical tests for their sick mother.
According to her, at first she assumed it was routine, but later realised that the family’s nurse was carrying out the procedures without taking her to any hospital.
When she refused further withdrawals, she was brutally assaulted and lost consciousness during one of the attacks.
She said partly, “They started withdrawing my blood because their mum was sick. I thought it was normal at first because if you want to go and work in an Arab house, they would ask us to do some tests every three months for them to be sure we are okay, we are fine. So I thought it was not until it became consistent. I didn’t even see the meaning to it at first.
“I just noticed that it was the same nurse who was treating their mother who kept withdrawing my blood without taking me to the hospital. So I told them that if they want me to go and get a test, let me go to the hospital myself but they didn’t answer me. But when I refused them from withdrawing my blood that was when the beating started.”
She had earlier explained that she had dropped out of school at the age of 20 and was deceived into travelling to Libya with promises of better opportunities to raise money for her sick mother. Instead, she was forced into modern-day slavery, working for one year and six months without pay as she was told to settle an agent’s fee of over two million naira.
The Kabba-born returnee recounted how she suffered maltreatment, changed jobs multiple times, and was even locked in a house.
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She described the condition of Nigerians like her as degrading, adding that she was fortunate to escape into a camp where her rescue was arranged.
Oluwagbenga commended the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), its chairman Abike Dabiri-Erewa, and Dr Segun Abraham of Trinity Foundation, for facilitating her safe return.
She appealed for assistance to continue her education, which she abandoned in 2018 in her third year at university.
