Client 7 NLT’s Escape From Modern Slavery

For months, the brick dust in Almaty clung to his skin like a curse. Every morning before dawn, Client 7 NLT, a young Sierra Leonean man, woke to that same cruel reality. He would join seven others, including two fellow Sierra Leoneans, five Nigerians, and a Ghanaian, to mould and lift bricks in silence. Their passports were gone, their wages stolen, their hope slowly dying in a factory thousands of miles from home.

Back in Sierra Leone, his family waited for the dream they had paid $14,000 USD to secure a promise of a new life abroad. Instead, they lost contact. Their son had vanished into a network of deceit, trapped by a man they had trusted, Nurudeen Bangapamu Bangura, who posed as a migration agent.

When the Transnational Organized Crime Unit (TOCU) in Sierra Leone received word of the case, it reached the desk of Patrick Adeyemi‑Buckle, CEO of True Hope Foundation International. The organisation, known for its work defending victims of human trafficking and supporting their recovery, mobilised quickly, collaborating across borders through long nights of calls, paperwork, and diplomatic negotiations that eventually led to a coordinated rescue mission.

On December 26th, 2024, Kazakh authorities raided the factory and, as luck would have it, the victims were freed. In October 2025, the High Court of Sierra Leone, under Justice Tonia Barnett, sentenced Nurudeen Bangura to nine years in prison, ordered him to pay SLE 200,000 in compensation, and to forfeit a Freetown property he had deceitfully used as collateral before the victim’s departure. It was the second major human trafficking conviction secured through THFI’s efforts.

When the judgement was read, the victim’s father, overwhelmed with emotion, was unable to hold back tears. Later, his son sent a short voice message to the Foundation, words heavy with relief and gratitude: “Today is my happiest day. I don’t know how to thank you. May God bless you and reward you with your heart’s desires.” That voice note, played softly in THFI’s Freetown office, carried the weight of what justice truly means, not a headline, but a human life restored.

For Mr. Adeyemi‑Buckle and his team, the victory is both a milestone and a reminder. “Every soul we save is a seed of hope we are planting,” he said. True Hope Foundation International continues its work: rescuing victims, providing care and support, partnering with local and international authorities, and standing firm against one of humanity’s oldest cruelties. Because in that brick factory, where freedom was stolen, hope still found a way to live.

Learn more about the Foundation at: https://truehopefoundation.org.