Posted by 
When a Benin person speaks their local parlance, Italy is usually stylised as Italo. In 2024, The Council of Europe Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings reported that between 2,100 and 3,800 persons have been detected as possible victims of trafficking in Italy per year.
More data reported that the rate of Nigerians who arrived irregularly by sea and land in 2021 was estimated at 1,912 persons.
That number has since increased with available data from the International Organisation for Migration, revealing that at least 1,200 Nigerians have died while trying to migrate through the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea in the year 2023 alone.
In plain terms, illegal migration is an endemic with no end in sight. Through Italo, Roger Ofime, the producer, tells a story that spotlights love, politics, and a central theme of human trafficking with the tale of three different women at three distinct stages of their lives – who have made very different decisions with what life has brought to them.
Although masked as a story that centres around Esosa and Collins’ love story and all Esosa had to do to cover her lies, Italo spotlights the greed and pain behind human trafficking – through Itohan, the trafficker; Esosa, the escaped victim, and Omotola, the discontent teenager. The aftermath of their decisions makes up Italo.
Read also: ‘Oloture’ Returns – Sequel Series In The Works
The series’ opening sequence starts with a flashback of a horrendous moment in the desert with bandits shooting sporadically. That’s the memory that has plagued Esosa for years as she was trafficked.
Riddled with a morally bankrupt family, where both parents would rather their children earn money through every means necessary, Esosa and her brother, Imafidon, were forced into illicit businesses. Unlike her brother, who is a pampered internet fraudster, Esosa was trafficked to Europe.
For eight years, after her parents forced her to travel to Italy by road, Esosa had to pay her way out of her situation under the supervision of her trafficker. After finally finding her footing, she sends money for her brother and mother to build a house. Instead, they both squander the money – A classic African family tale many diaspora members have faced.
However in an unfortunate situation, Esosa created a web of lies around herself that jeopardised her relationship with her fiance Collins.
On the other hand, Itohan, who happened to have trafficked Esosa, is Collins’ aunt and she’ll do anything in her power to keep her secret, even if it means killing her family members and facilitating the takeover of the Idemudia family business because of her ambition of becoming the first female local government chairman of their community.
For her, everyone is a tool to achieve her goal. Inclusive of the hundreds of girls she trafficks, which includes Omotola, a 19-year-old Jambite, who Imafidon, Esosa’s brother, gives outrageous money gifts to.
In her bid to prove a point to her peers, she convinces her friend, Amina, to follow her on a journey she knows nothing about. Seeking help from a travel agent who ‘knew a safe route to Europe by road,’ Omotola packs light as she demands that an unsuspecting Imafidon gives her N400k to prove that he cares about her.
Without saying goodbye to anyone, she embarks on a journey with her friend, a decision that soon becomes the beginning of the end of their lives. Omotola’s character perfectly portrays the naivety that comes with her age while highlighting themes of peer pressure.
Like Omotola had Amina, Esosa had Ada, but both friends were met with more brutal endings than the main characters. However, Ada’s character has the chance of redemption from her abuse of meth. On the other hand, Amina’s life ends.
The portrayal of culture coupled with the masterful use of well-spoken native languages to portray the storyline was one element the makers of Italo nailed. Angela Eguavoen did not only pull all the stops for her character Esosa, but the portrayal of her dialogue made the story more convincing. She is unarguably the stand-out act from this series.
Although Angela Eguavoen’s acting was great, the storyline itself was compelling while spotlighting themes around trafficking, greed, love, and more. The producers told the story of different women, but watching the show, it didn’t feel like it because the story was cohesive.
They did not only give us a background to these women’s struggles, but they showed through these women what their lives would be like if different decisions were made.
With Collins and Esosa’s relationship in jeopardy following Osato’s shocking revelation, Itohan scrambling to protect her secrets and Omotola on her new journey as she deals with trauma from the trafficking incident, Italo is toeing the line of being the best Africa Magic show, storytelling wise.
Follow how these women navigate their relationships as new episodes of Italo show on Africa Magic Showcase (DStv Ch. 151) with new episodes from Mondays to Wednesdays at 8:30 PM.
