By Ishmael Bayoh
Information Attachè, Sierra Leone Embassy Dakar, Senegal
The Sierra Leone Embassy in Dakar, Senegal, has rescued three Sierra Leonean girls (aged between 17 and 18) from an alleged sex trafficking operation in Senegal.
These girls were lured into coming to Senegal to work in a hairdressing saloon. One of the girls, who was given the street name alias Sugar, said she was from Tombo, Western Rural District. The young woman was allegedly lured to Senegal by a man identified as Musa Bah, a resident of Cinquante, on the outskirts of Dakar, who promised to secure her employment as a hairdresser.
Like her colleagues, they had been in Senegal for over one month when they were brought to the Sierra Leone Embassy on Monday, October 26, 2026, to obtain a consular card.
During the consular interview, the Acting Head of Chancery, Madam Evelyn Tanty Akakpo, became suspicious of the account of one of them, and further questioning reportedly revealed that she had been brought to Senegal under the guise of securing employment as a hairdresser but was allegedly forced into prostitution.
According to the young woman, she was staying with her friend’s parents, who were acting as her guardians in Tombo, when Musa Bah approached her and told her that he was living in Senegal and wanted to take her there to work as a hairdresser.
She said she informed her guardians, who subsequently demanded confirmation from Musa’s mother that her son was indeed resident in Senegal. After receiving the confirmation, the guardians reportedly handed her over to one Mohamed Kamara, later known as a friend of Musa, to facilitate her journey.
But upon arriving in Senegal, she said she discovered that the promise of employment as a hairdresser was allegedly a deception.
“On arrival in Senegal, one month ago today, I found that all that he told us was not true, as he brought me for prostitution,” she further told embassy officials, breaking down in tears that the madam even threatened them to run mad should they fail to cooperate.
The other two girls with aliases Destiny and Anita said they were from Tengbeh Town when a friend of theirs named Fudia (aka Favor), who lives in Senegal and was once trafficked, linked them with Musa, who later travelled with them to Senegal.
Musa Bah took them to the Sierra Leone Embassy to obtain a consular card, which the girls believed was intended to facilitate their access to a hospital and obtain what they described as a “prostitution certificate” to enable them to work as prostitutes. One of them was immediately placed under protection while Musa, with the aid of one woman who brought the girls, ran away with them after suspecting that one of the girls had taken long in her interviews.
When they arrived in Senegal, Musa handed them over to a Nigerian lady named Harmony as their madam. It was there that the madam told them the nature of their job and gave them a price of 2,000,000XOF ($3,408,24) that they should work for and repay. Separately, they were to pay 5,000XOF (Nle195,000) daily, which is 15,000XOF (Nle585,000) for three of them.
Following the disclosure, the matter was immediately brought to the attention of the relevant Senegalese authorities. The Division Nationale de Lutte Contre Le Traffic De Migrants et Pratiques Assimilées (DNLT).
Over the weekend, the anti migrant officers raided the apartment the girls were housed in Cinquante and arrested the alleged traffickers. Musa, Mohamed and two women who allegedly bought the girls. All three girls were handed over to the embassy and have been placed in a safe home.
The house where the girls were lodged at Cinquante
The Embassy is in the process of establishing contacts with the parents of the girls and guardians in Sierra Leone.
Last year, the embassy launched twin campaigns against human trafficking and drugs and substance abuse as a way of protecting Sierra Leonean nationals, especially vulnerable ones in Senegal and the countries accredited to.
