Nigerian women who are working as domestic workers in Iraq are being exploited, according to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).

Fatima Waziri-Azi, the Director-General of NAPTIP, issued a statement on Wednesday stating that most of the women are seeking help to return home. She also mentioned that the women were trafficked to Iraq under the guise of greener pastures and that most of them are young.

NAPTIP is investigating recruiters who have been reported to be big players in the recruitment of Nigerians to Iraq for domestic servitude.

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Waziri-Azi said that traffickers have now shifted their attention to Iraq because of the proactive activities and collaborative efforts of NAPTIP and its partners in raising awareness around issues of human trafficking to some of the known destination countries.

According to the statement, there have been numerous requests for rescue and repatriation from female victims trafficked to Iraq, particularly to the cities of Baghdad and Basra, where they are distributed to various homes by their recruitment agents to a hard life of domestic servitude.

The women are subjected to long work hours under harsh conditions and are constantly under threat of being harmed by their direct employers or the Iraqi agents, each time they complain of unbearable workload.

They have no access to their phones because their phones are seized immediately they are paired with an employer. The women are also constantly sexually harassed, Waziri-Azi said, adding that it is important to thoroughly scrutinize work opportunities before accepting offers