Church Reveals Involvement in Female Trafficking

16 May Church Reveals Involvement in Female Trafficking

Lagos woke up on Tuesday morning overwhelmed with the stench of death and fear. Every paper, every radio and television station, led with the story of Tunde’s shocking murder.

Killings by robbers and ritualists were so common in Lagos they hardly made news. But this was different. Not since the gruesome bombing of the editor–in-chief of a news magazine nineteen years before, had a journalist been killed. The public clearly was unnerved. If the institutions the people depended upon came under attack, the illusion of order crumbled. They demanded the mystery be solved. And the easy deduction that Tunde was killed because of his story put the police and The Zodiac itself under immense pressure.

No one knew this better than Peter Abel, who had spent most of the night researching the names of the visa applicants on his computer. Some were not to be found. Others had minor arrest records. All seemed to be anonymous children picked, he suspected, precisely because nobody would care if they disappeared. Illegally shuffled off to some foreign country to work as prostitutes and slaves and to die as anonymously as they lived. No public outcry for them. No major paper putting all its resources into finding those responsible. No Police Commissioner visiting the girls’ families to make assurances or post guards outside their doors.

But somebody had to speak for these girls. And Abel was determined to be that somebody. Just as soon as he discovered who had killed his friend. Abel knew that solving Tunde’s death would lead him to whoever was marketing and then discarding human flesh.

A few minutes later, the editor from his paper called with an update. He had been receiving them all night. Lola had been told about the death of her husband by her priest. She fainted at the news and had to be revived by the nurse. Was Abel going to visit the grieving widow?

Yes, at some point. But not today. The best thing Abel could do for Lola was to find her husband’s killer.

Things began to move swiftly. By noon, the autopsy result had been issued, and an hour later, the police commissioner himself addressed a press conference. Here he announced that the visa racketeer and Pastor Majayi were suspects. They had not been charged, but they were in custody and being questioned.

Abel did not attend the packed press conference. It would only draw attention to him. Reporters from other papers and TV outlets would want to know if he was investigating the case. Abel preferred to fly below the radar. So, while the press conference was on, Abel took the opportunity to visit Pastor Majayi’s church. Thus he entered the storm that raged over Tunde’s death. There could be no turning back now.

The church was tucked away about a kilometre from the Lagos-Tagry road. Abel made note of the building, a hut with dwarf walls and incongruously luxurious new steel roofing sheets. When Abel entered, he saw two young men kneeling before the high wooden pulpit, praying. They did not notice their visitor. Or perhaps they simply chose to ignore him. Abel wasn’t sure which.

As he waited, he studied the men, noting their clean white robes and dreadlocks. Finally, one of the supplicants reached up and clanged a bell thrice after a shout of, “Amen”, bringing the prayers to an end. The two devotees shook hands and then acknowledged Abel’s presence.

“Welcome to the Central Christian Church, brother. You are more police?”, said the one who had rung the bell. Both men were tall and remarkably thin with high cheekbones and sunken eyes. Abel guessed they were in their late 20s.

“No. I am not a policeman.”

“So, what do you want here?” A hint of hostility crept into the young man’s voice.

“I am a reporter.” Abel saw the men react, slightly alarmed. He had to put them at ease and give them a reason to talk to him. “I apologise for intruding on your service. But given what’s happened to your pastor, I thought you might want to tell me your side of the story. You can talk to me without disclosing your names, if you would prefer.”

“Speak on the condition of anonymity”, the shorter of the two offered cynically.

“Yes. As you say. And the sooner you speak to me the better.”

“And why is that?”

“People become biased against you if they only hear the other side of the story. You know your pastor has not been allowed to talk to anybody …”

“True. None of our three leaders has been allowed to see him at the police station”, the other acknowledged.

“So you see, it is as I said. Only the police are telling their tale. Giving the public reasons to suspect your pastor.”

The other man nodded, softening. “Shall we sit down?” He led the way.

“Thank you, Mr. … ?” Abel said.

“Junior Pastor Joshua. My colleague is Deacon Samson.”

“And your newspaper?” Samson asked quickly.

“News Breaker. It is a new weekly magazine really”, Abel had prepared for this question and was already rummaging in his pocket for a phoney ID. If the men knew he was from The Zodiac, the paper that employed the dead reporter, they surely would have recognised this visit for what it was – an attempt to gather intelligence, to determine what role the church played, if any, in Tunde’s death.

Deceit was part of Abel’s job. He played many parts. And after all these years, it came naturally. A chameleon, his publisher dubbed him.

“First let me say I am sorry about what has happened to your church for merely offering spiritual assistance to a desperate man”, Abel said as he took a seat on the wooden bench opposite his hosts.

Most people have mixed reactions when a reporter confronts them. They are thrilled by the attention, the possibility of getting their names into the paper. And they fear what they might expose about themselves.  But Abel had become a master of disarming potential sources.

“Thank you” Samson said, smiling in gratitude. “That is why we are here praying. Our church is just recently taking hold, gaining new members every day. Publicity like this could be devastating.”

The other added proudly, “You see, this is our new site. The old church in Agege is far too small for our growing congregation.”

“A shame if this all hurts your ministry”, Abel said. He waited a moment before continuing. “So, how is it the church became involved in all this? Are you often asked to pray for people with visa problems?”

“Yes. But it is with the best of intentions. This murder is quite shocking.”

“You had no idea there was anything illegal about this man trying to get visas for so many young women?”

“Of course not. You see, over the years, we have helped a lot of people with exactly this kind of thing. People come here, we pray for them, and they get their visas just like that”, Joshua snapped his frail fingers. “Even those who are already out of the country, we pray for them so their lives may prosper.”

Abel regarded them. Did these men really believe the vulnerable young girls who came to them were going abroad happily or that once there, they would lead prosperous lives? Samson and Joshua were either lying or stupid.

Samson appeared eager for this reporter to think well of the Church.

“So I don’t know why they suspect the pastor”, he said. “How can a man of God cut off someone’s ears and send them to the wife? Eh, don’t people think?”

Abel wanted to discuss something else.

“I wonder”, he said. “These girls, do they come alone?  Or do others pay you for the prayers?”

The two men glanced at one another and shook their heads.

“We could get into trouble seeing such girls”, Samson said.

“I don’t follow”, Abel told them.

Joshua chuckled. “You don’t keep attractive girls like that too close if you don’t want to fall to temptation”, he said. “The devil is smart. He uses no guns. He manipulates the mind and the heart.”

Samson added, “Lust. We do what we can to avoid the temptation. We are, after all, vulnerable men. Weak”.

“So you don’t ever meet the girls themselves?” Abel said.

“They have agents who bring us their names and photographs for us to pray on.”

“For how much?”

“Ten thousand naira for visa applicants and twenty thousand for those who are there.”

“By ‘there’, you mean girls who have gone abroad?”

The men nodded.

“And these girls keep paying you even after they are out of the country?”

“Yes. For our continued prayers so they will be protected by God from whatever harm they fear.”

Whatever harm they fear?

Abel was horrified. These girls were sold into hideous, miserable lives. And then this Church took what little money they managed to earn as payment to “pray” for better lives. The money the girls made, money they might use to make a better life, was handed over to these so-called “men of God”.

Despite his revulsion, Abel nodded as if the men had described a perfectly reasonable business transaction.

“For the money these girls make overseas”, he said, “I think that is too low a price to charge. But please don’t say I said it, o?  They will hate me and my magazine.”

“Considering what our pastor is going through, we may have to ask for more”, Joshua said sternly.

“And please remember I didn’t say this, o?” Abel reminded them and feigned a smile.

He rose from his seat, knowing if he didn’t leave he might let his true feelings show. It took all his self-control to keep from attacking these two self-satisfied hypocrites. Instead he merely said, “I have many places to touch before nightfall. The Lord will give you strength and courage in this ordeal”.

He left, never offering his hand. The men might have noticed or not. Abel didn’t care.

As he drove off, Abel wondered what he would have done if the agents of the devil, as he thought of them, had offered to pray for him. It would have meant a curse, he said to himself and shook his head.

Apart from the dirty revelation, he had found nothing to link the church to Tunde’s death. The encounter made him regret that he had not taken a serious look at human trafficking before this. He had realised, during his night-long computer search that the topic was worth an in-depth investigation. He knew the dangers. They were all too clear.

After all, they had cost his friend his life.