Human Traffickers Remove Teenager’s Womb to Punish Her for Rejecting Sex Work

Human Traffickers Remove Teenager's Womb to Punish Her for Rejecting Sex Work

Human Traffickers Remove Teenager’s Womb to Punish Her for Rejecting Sex Work

UDU, Delta State – Residents of Udu Local Government Area are asking a haunting question: “How can a woman with female children allow this kind of thing to be done to another person’s child?” That question has echoed across Delta State after the arrest of two women accused of trafficking 19-year-old Ejiro to Côte d’Ivoire, where human traffickers allegedly removed her womb and fallopian tubes when she refused to become a prostitute. The Delta State Police Command has taken two suspects into custody: Blessing Mongo, 47, and Esther Meeting, 32. According to police, the case was officially reported on April 3, 2026, after the victim’s mother noticed her daughter was seriously ill following a visit from her father’s house. What the mother discovered would shatter any parent’s heart: her teenage daughter had been surgically altered without her consent in a foreign country. Police Commissioner Yemi Oyeniyi confirmed the case during his first-quarter briefing in Asaba, stating that medical examinations revealed the traffickers removed the teenager’s womb before returning her to Nigeria. “During the course of investigation, a medical examination was carried out and it was discovered that the traffickers removed her womb without her consent,” CP Oyeniyi said.

The bizarre and pathetic story begins like many trafficking tales—with trust. According to SP Bright Edafe, the Delta State Police Public Relations Officer, Ejiro was approached by a female friend of her father who offered to help her travel abroad for a job. Though the exact nature of the job was never disclosed, Ejiro believed that Blessing, being a mother and a family friend, would not wish her evil. Ejiro accepted the offer with an open, innocent mind. She looked forward to becoming financially independent and proud of traveling to another country. But that dream quickly turned into a nightmare. Upon arrival in Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) , Ejiro discovered she had been brought to engage in forced commercial sex work. She immediately refused and demanded to be returned to Nigeria. The traffickers told her they had no money for her return fare. When she called Blessing, the woman who facilitated the journey, she also claimed to have no funds.

Further investigation revealed a sophisticated all-female criminal network. According to the victim’s statement to police, in September 2025, Ejiro and two of her friends met Blessing Mongo, who introduced them to Esther Meeting. Esther then introduced them to another lady named Onome, aged 36, all for the purpose of trafficking to Ivory Coast for prostitution. Blessing reportedly handed Ejiro over to a Warri-based lady who is currently at large. That suspect then transferred her to another accomplice in Lagos State, who took Ejiro to Côte d’Ivoire. On arrival, Ejiro was received by a woman known only as “Iron Man,” who police believe still holds many other young girls in forced prostitution.

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When Ejiro refused to cooperate, the traffickers escalated their brutality. According to police, after she complained of feeling unwell, they took her to a place that claimed to be a hospital. “Along the line, she was given something and fell unconscious. When she told them she was sick, they took her to a place that claimed to be a hospital and injected her until she lost consciousness,” Edafe narrated. “On waking up, she saw her stomach plastered. She didn’t know what had happened to her.” Ejiro later told investigators that days after her arrival in Ivory Coast, she was injected with an unknown substance and rushed to a hospital. The location of that hospital remains unknown to her. All she remembers is waking up with her abdomen bandaged and no explanation from her captors.

Ejiro reportedly stayed in Côte d’Ivoire for over a year before the forced surgery was performed. After the procedure, the traffickers noticed she was not recovering well—her wound refused to heal. She was then put in a vehicle and sent back to Lagos State, Nigeria, where she was abandoned. Roaming the streets of Lagos, she was noticed by a Good Samaritan who asked questions about her condition. Initially afraid because he had heard of cases where people died while trying to help trafficking victims, the man eventually summoned courage. He took her to Warri, from where she located her family and explained everything. Upon arrival in Delta State, Ejiro was taken to a government hospital in Ughelli. Her hospital bill was paid by the Ministry of Women Affairs. It was there that doctors made the shocking discovery: her fallopian tubes had been surgically removed. The organ harvesting was apparently done to punish her for refusing prostitution, to render her childless for life, or to make it impossible for her to get pregnant while being forced into sex work.

Ejiro narrated her painful experience in simple, devastating terms: “I knew the woman who proposed a job abroad to me through my father. But when I got to Côte d’Ivoire, I saw that I was brought to practise commercial sex work. I told them I wanted to return home, but they said they had no transport fare to give me. I called my father’s friend, who handed me over to the other person, but she replied that I should remain there as she had no money to give me. I didn’t know when I fell unconscious. I just woke up and found my stomach plastered.”

During interrogation, Blessing Mongo admitted her role. “She’s my girl. I knew her through my friend. My friend, Esther, told me that I should help her travel. So I asked Ejiro if she would like to travel, and she said ‘yes,'” Blessing stated. She confessed to receiving N400,000 for facilitating the girl’s travel, claiming it was her first time engaging in human trafficking. But when asked why she did not take her own 18-year-old daughter abroad for prostitution, Blessing gave no answer. She only said she was unhappy with what had been done to Ejiro—a statement that has been met with public scorn. The second suspect, Esther Meeting, told police she received N150,000 as part of the syndicate. She denied knowing the situation would turn out this way, adding that she has two boys and one girl, aged five. Like Blessing, she offered no explanation for why she would help traffic another woman’s daughter while raising her own female child.

Police said two other suspects remain at large: the Warri-based woman who first received Ejiro from Blessing, and the woman known as “Iron Man” in Côte d’Ivoire. The case has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) for further investigation. The Delta State Police Command has urged residents to remain vigilant and report suspicious activities, particularly those involving human trafficking and exploitation. The command also disclosed that it charged about 455 criminal cases to court between January 2026 and April 2026, with 205 cases already prosecuted and 250 pending across the state’s 25 local councils.

The case has sparked widespread outrage on social media. A video accompanying the police statement bore this inscription: “You want to know how heartless human trafficking syndicates can be, then you need to listen to how they trafficked a 19-year-old girl from Delta State to the Ivory Coast for prostitution, and when she refused to engage in prostitution, they injected her, removed her womb, and returned her to Nigeria.” For the people of Udu Local Government Area, one question remains unanswered: How could any mother do this to another mother’s child?