When Isha Francess Dumbuya finally stepped into Martins Vincent Otse popularly known as VeryDarkMan’s, office in Abuja, she was carrying more than exhaustion. She was carrying months of fear, hunger, and disappointment. She was also carrying a small piece of paper with an address she had copied from Google Maps. It was the only hope she had left.
Isha is 18.She left Sierra Leone believing she was heading to Nigeria to act in movies she had grown up watching. The woman who convinced her knew exactly how to sell the dream. She had met Isha several times in Freetown, buying cake from her roadside stall, building trust slowly. By the time the offer came, it sounded real enough to risk everything.
The journey began in April.By the time Isha reached Nigeria, she discovered the truth. There was no acting job. The work she was expected to do was prostitution. When she refused and asked to return home, she was told to pay money she did not have.
That was when she ran.One night, she escaped and wandered until she met a stranger who listened. He could not take her in, but he helped her find a Muslim community in Asaba that gave her shelter for the night. From there, she was advised to travel to Abuja and seek help from her country’s embassy. She did. She was turned away with the explanation that there was no money and nowhere to keep her.Stranded and desperate, Isha did what many young people her age would do. She searched online. On a scrap of paper, she wrote down the location of VeryDarkman’s office. She followed that address, step by step, until she found the door.
VeryDarkman listened.He did not interrupt her. He did not dismiss her. Instead, he did what many institutions had failed to do. He believed her story and treated her like a human being. He recorded a video with Isha, allowing her to speak in her own words.Within hours, the video spread across social media, drawing millions of views and thousands of comments from people shocked by what she had endured.
Beyond the camera, there was action. VeryDarkman gave Isha a phone so she could stay connected and promised to help with her return to Sierra Leone. His intervention turned a private nightmare into a public conversation and, more importantly, into a path forward for a girl who had been invisible for months.
The moment struck a nerve across West Africa. It pointed out the ease with which young females in informal employment can be induced for their potential. It also raised some worrisome questions about the support structures put in place to ensure that citizens are protected abroad and what happens when these structures go wrong.
The incident was a defining point for Isha. It reminded many people watching from the world of the internet that sometimes the delivery of aid does not go through buildings or stamped papers. Occasionally, it comes from someone willing to lend a listening ear and make effective use of his platform.
Read Also: “I was promised acting work” – Sierra Leonean 18-year-old on being trafficked to Nigeria
Martins Vincent Otse is a Nigerian social commentator, activist, and social web celebrity who goes by the name VeryDarkman, abbreviated VDM. He is famous for his bold and controversial style of writing and his focus on issues of injustice, fraud, and abuse of power. He has a large popularity base due to the issues he writes about that many people consider swept under the carpet.
