After enduring four harrowing years in Mali, Deola George, daughter of renowned Nollywood actress Jumoke George, has returned to Nigeria, rescued from the clutches of human trafficking.
Deola, who was trafficked by someone she described as “very close to her,” arrived in Lagos on Monday, May 19, 2025, in the company of her benefactor, Biola Adebayo, a celebrated Nollywood actress and humanitarian.
Deola
Upon arrival, she was taken to the Chairman/CEO of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, where she expressed profound gratitude to the agency and all Nigerians who played a role in facilitating her return.
Deola narrated her ordeal, revealing that the person who trafficked her was someone who once lived under her family’s roof.
She was deceived with a promise of a pharmacy job in Mali, only to be sold into slavery upon arrival.
Jumkoke George on the floor crying
“She came to me and said, ‘Sister Omoyemi, can you go to Mali?’ I asked why, and she said there was a woman who needed someone to manage her pharmacy. I said I wouldn’t tell my mother because she wouldn’t let me go. That was how the journey started,” Deola recounted.
After a five-day journey from Cotonou to Mali, she was handed over to another woman who bluntly told her she had been “bought as a slave” and was now indebted to the tune of ₦1.5 million. When Deola resisted, she was threatened with madness or death.
Jumoke George holding Biola Adebayo and thanking her
“They told me if I refused to prostitute, they would poison me. I said I preferred to die than to prostitute,” she said.
Eventually, with the help of a kind-hearted Malian who spoke Yoruba, she escaped to a village where she lived in hiding and took up menial jobs to survive.
She later made her way to Bamako, where a woman offered her work in a food shop but later relocated a a village for hiding to avoid being incarcerated and continued to work in a local shop where “Amala” is being sold.
Her return home was an emotional one. Her mother, Jumoke George, collapsed in tears upon seeing her daughter again, exclaiming: “Atoke, what did I do to you that you refused to forgive me? You shouldn’t have done this to me.”
Deola and Jumoke in an emotional mood
Deola, deeply remorseful, explained that she had intended to return home only after achieving financial success to support her mother, her only sibling, Ife, and two children.
“I didn’t want to return empty-handed. I thought I could gather money and come back successful. But I’ve learnt my lesson. I am not going anywhere again,” she said.
Jumoke George thanking Nigerians
Deola also shared grim details about other victims trapped in Mali, including a woman spiritually bound and enslaved for over 20 years.
She said women are routinely poisoned, burnt, and mentally broken by their traffickers.
In her address, Deola warned fellow Nigerians, especially young women, against being lured by the false promises of traffickers.
“Please, Nigerians, don’t travel to Mali for greener pastures. Mali is dangerous. Even husbands, siblings, and uncles are now selling their loved ones into slavery. Don’t trust anybody.”
She expressed a desire to help rescue other girls she met in Mali who remain enslaved, saying: “I want to save them. They need help. Ladies are suffering in Mali.”
Hon. Dabiri-Erewa commended Biola Adebayo and other stakeholders who contributed to Deola’s safe return, assuring that Deola would receive support to reintegrate into society and start a new life.
The Commission also reiterated its commitment to fighting human trafficking and supporting Nigerians in distress abroad.
As Deola begins the long journey to healing, her message rings clear: “Don’t be deceived by promises of jobs or better life abroad. If you must travel, verify everything and don’t go with anyone you don’t completely trust. Mali is not where a responsible person should go.”
However, a lady who identified herself Tolulope Fadekemi, has condemned the attitude of NiDCOM for presenting a picture that depicted that it single-handedly facilitated the return of Deola, saying, “NIDCOM is taking glory for something they weren’t fully part of but stepped into towards the end. This is absolutely wrong.”
She explained through her Facebook account, “When Madam Jumoke George cried out, certain people thrilled her and called her a fraud who just wanted public sympathy and money.
“Yakubu Oyiza Hope was in Mali at the time and made a post indicating her interest to help locate and rescue Madam Jumoke’s daughter and bring her back home…because she had other girls to bring back from Mali.
“I posted it on my wall, and one of my amiable mummies who is close to Biola Adebayo, saw my post and called Biola’s attention to it.
“Mummy then called me and told me she had asked Biola to contact Oyiza.
“Oyiza later reached out to me and told me she was in contact with Biola and that she had made move to locate Madam Jumoke’s daughter.
“Eventually, she was able to find the lady and then sent me this picture. She went through a lot of stress just to get the whole thing together.
“Remember the recorded video call that Biola posted…that was Oyiza with the lady in Mali.
“Oyiza had made plans to bring all the Nigerian girls she had gotten, back to Nigeria so they can reunite with their families.
“Only for NIDCOM to contact her and say they want to take over the case of Madam Jumoke’s daughter.
“Oyiza cooperated and then told them about the other girls…they refused and said they were only interested in this particular lady.
“Why? Because this is the only trending case.
“What will it cost NIDCOM to bring back all the girls, post it on their wall and then give credit to the one who did all the wahala from the beginning.
“It’s good that NIDCOM stepped into the matter…but it’s wrong to ignore the other girls just cos they weren’t trending…are they not Nigerians?
“”Today, people are praising NIDCOM and giving them glory when the only role they played was transportation, which Oyiza already had under control.
This is so pathetic and very unfair.
“An organisation that truly wants to serve, with all the resources at their disposal, would have brought back the other girls and mentioned the lady who did all the work in Mali. It cost absolutely nothing.”
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