After four years of silence, unanswered questions, and quiet suffering, Nigerian actress Jumoke George has reunited with her daughter, Adeola, who had been trafficked to Mali. The shocking revelation has reignited concerns over human trafficking in West Africa and the vulnerabilities of Nigerians seeking better lives abroad.
Adeola’s story came back into the public eye after an emotional interview with her mother on the Talk To B show, hosted by actress and advocate Abiola Bayo. In the interview, Jumoke broke down in tears as she spoke about her illness, financial hardship, and the trauma of losing her firstborn.
“For years, I lived with this pain in silence,” she said. “I didn’t want to be judged, so I kept it to myself. But it got to a point where I had to speak out.”
The veteran actress recounted how Adeola vanished from Ibadan, where she had been living with her grandmother. One day, she said she was heading to Lagos. She never arrived.
Unbeknownst to her mother, Adeola had been lured by traffickers under the guise of seeking greener pastures abroad. She eventually ended up in Mali—a country notorious for hosting trafficking victims from across West Africa.
The emotional burden took a toll on Jumoke’s health and career. She revealed that she started living in a church and turned down acting jobs because of declining health and depression.
The turning point came when Adeola made a surprising call, asking for her mother’s forgiveness. She confessed that she had been deceived into travelling abroad with friends, only to fall into the hands of traffickers. Though she had managed to survive the ordeal, finding a way back home remained a challenge—until advocates stepped in.
Biola Bayo, alongside fellow actor Adeniyi Johnson and officials at the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), took up the case. With the intervention of NiDCOM Chairperson Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the wheels of repatriation were set in motion.
“Breaking! Adeola, daughter of popular actress Jumoke George… is back home from Mali, where she was trafficked,” Dabiri announced. “Just received her with Biola Adebayo, who broke the story, and Niyi Johnson.”
This case highlights the silent epidemic of human trafficking—often ignored, downplayed, or hidden due to shame. Adeola’s story is far from isolated. Thousands of Nigerian women, many of them under the radar, have been trafficked across the Sahel region, trapped in exploitative conditions ranging from forced labor to sex work.
NiDCOM, working with international partners, continues to rescue victims, but many cases go unreported.
As Nigeria continues to grapple with the socioeconomic challenges that drive people to seek dangerous alternatives abroad, Jumoke George’s story stands as both a cautionary tale and a call to action.
“This isn’t just about me,” she said. “It’s about all the mothers still searching. It’s about protecting our daughters before they disappear.”
