Victor Siyanbola 

Oloture: The Journey is a must-watch Netflix play which premiered on June 28, 2024. This Nollywood epic movie has become the talk of the town ever since its release. This is as a result of its exploration of the unhealthy realities that inflict its social-cultural context, Nigeria. The series, produced by Mo Aubudu’s Ebonylife Studies, is said to be a sequel to the 2020 film titled Oloture. The background of this play can be traced to a 2014 trafficking investigation which was unveiled by Premium Times. As such, Kenneth Gyang (Director), Yinka Ogun and Cruig Freimond, crew members and other casts have contributed to the production of this thriller.

The principal character of the play, Eni, is played by a model and actress, Beverly Osu. She is a 31-year-old Nigerian video vixen with 926k followers on Instagram. She plays the role of a sex worker in Lagos. Although she is a young journalist who decides to work undercover in order to expose a human trafficking syndicate that she suspected, things go awry when the weapon she wields as a journalist is too minute to grant her safety. Her aim is to uncover the suspected menace of human trafficking in her spatiality, but the claws of irregular immigration harm her morale.

In the bid to carry out her investigation, she is smuggled alongside other victims and taken to Europe by road. The series trifurcates into three episodes; each episode ensures the uninterrupted flow of the thematic issues being explored. It explores the realities of innocent Nigerian women who fall victim to human trafficking and are treated as sex toys in European countries. Initially, Theo, a boss to Eni, warns her not to delve into such a risky task but she hesitates – she resolves to expose the network of this life-threatening act, not minding the risks ahead. Her plan to infiltrate a number of Italy-bound trafficked girls almost became a success until the policemen arrive too late; hence, this investigative adventure becomes calamitous.

En route to their destination, Europe,  the victims disguised themselves as missionaries with fake passports. In that heat of frustration, Linda, a character of the play, gets murdered for having a phone. This portrays how these victims are trapped and caged. They are deprived access to devices that can help to expose or leak their whereabouts. Amidst the chaos that looms because of this incident, Beauty also finds a way to escape from her valley of the shadow of death.

The conventionality of feminine wiles is explicitly portrayed in this series. Irony plays out as the organiser of the smuggling operation is a woman and the person who tries to expose this menace is also a woman. Alero, the organiser, initially embroiled in a conflict with Tony who is her boss. Tony is pressured by Antonio, the one who is behind the sprawling web of exploitation and servitude.

The journey continues for a while. As they journey through Niger, their bus gets ambushed by undisclosed armed men. The hired killers sent everyone on the bus to their grave, excluding Ehi and Peju who had the luck to survive. The chain of Ehi’s plights does not end as she gets raped by Sir Philip. Discovering her diary and intentions, Sir Philip aggressively puts a bounty on Alero, the woman smuggler. Tony gets fortunate by providence when Chucks begins to build a relationship with him, having noticed Alero had become defenceless. Ben and Andrew, two immigrants, come to the aid of Ehi at Niger. Together, they headed to Libya in the course of their unexpected and ill adventure.

To this end, the play is woven to depict the struggles of those who leave their countries for greener pastures in faraway European countries. The migration craze in these countries is sparked by various reasons like unemployment, lack of job security, deficient infrastructure, bad governance, poverty, amidst many other reasons. However, is the land any greener where they are headed? Find out in this thrilling movie titled Oloture: The Journey.