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ALAUSA ALERT, February 2014
C
Tackling The Menace Of
Human Trafficking
E
very year, the world faces the scourge
of human trafficking which
traumatizes the existence of man and
threatens global development. A 2004 US
State Department's data reveals that more
than 800,000 women and children are
trafficked yearly across the world. A
similarly, United Nations (UN) statistics
indicates that 4million human beings are
trafficked globally and domestically on a
yearly basis.
Women and children account for 80% of
cases of human trafficking. It has reached
such a widespread level that the UN
Convention Against Transnational
Organized Crime was adopted by the UN
General Assembly resolution 55/25 of 15th
November, 2000, as the main international
instrument in the fight against transnational
organized crime. Nigeria and other nations
are signatories to this UN Conventions and
other Protocols such as Universal
Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR),
International Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
These Conventions guarantee right to liberty
of movement and freedom to choose one`s
residence, right to a decent work, right to
freedom from slavery, right against torture
and /or submission to other cruel, inhuman
or degrading treatment or punishment.
instruments, human trafficking has
remained a profitable venture which
conventionally rakes in huge earnings of
about $10 billion annually. Like it is with
drug trafficking, our nation is highly ranked
in the business of human trafficking, serving
as origination, transition and destination
points.
At the moment, many Nigerian
women and girls are being ferried abroad
under various pretexts only to end up as
prostitutes, domestic servants, slaves and
destitute. Not only is Nigeria a major base for
human trafficking to Europe, America and
Asia, it is also an intermediary point for some
West Africa countries such as
Benin
Republic, Togo, Sierra Leone, Ghana and
Mali among others. Within the country, the
bulk of household servants are under aged
children recruited from such States as of
Akwa Ibom, Cross Rivers, Ebonyi, Kano and
Kaduna.
Concerned by the rising drift of human
trafficking in the country, the Federal
Government established the National Agency
for Prohibition of Traffic in Persons and other
related Matters (NAPTIP) in 2003. The
Agency, a creation of Trafficking in Persons
(Prohibition) Law Enforcement and
Administration Act, 2003, is the Federal
Government's official response to tackling
the blight of human trafficking. It also fulfils
the country's international obligation under
the trafficking in persons protocol
supplementing the Transnational Organized
The UN depicts human trafficking as the Crime Convention (TOC) of which Nigeria is a
conscription, transportation, transfer, signatory.
harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of
threat or use of force or other forms of In 2010, NAPTIP recorded 5000 victims,
coercive methods, of abduction, of fraud of provided care for 1,109 human trafficking
deception, of the abuse of power or of a victims and prosecuted over a hundred
position of vulnerability or of the giving or cases. Sadly, this act really undervalues the
receiving of payments or benefits to achieve scale of human trafficking issue in Nigeria.
the consent of a person having control over To truly deal with the scourge in Nigeria,
another person, for the purpose of Federal Government needs to put up a data
exploitation. This universal boom of forced base that provides universal details and
labour, human trafficking and violation of methodical examination of human trafficking
women and children`s rights is quite cases in the country. It is only in doing this
disturbing. It is a contemporary form of that we can really evolve a structure for the
slavery, which regrettably, is being aided by precise breakdown that is required in
t e c h n o l o g y , c o m m u n i c a t i o n a n d limiting the current trend of human
transportation as well as high global demand trafficking in the country. Likewise,
for cheap labour and commercial sex government ought to wield sufficient political
workers. Consequently, tackling such a will to execute human trafficking laws in
growing illicit industry demands better such a way that discourages the usual
strategies because of its well organized custom of sacred cows in the country.
Equally, there is a serious need for the law to
structure.
be strengthened in order to avoid being
unduly exploited by the high and the mighty.
In-spite of available domestic and global legal
Considering its nature as the commercial nerve centre of
Nigeria, and indeed West Africa, Lagos, without doubt, has its
own experience of this inhuman business. However, in its
characteristic systematic approach to issues, the State
Government has evolved an holistic strategy to tackle this
menace headlong. For one, it has put in place several
empowerment schemes for different categories of Lagosians
in order to forestall the idle hands syndrome .
ADEREMI IBIROGBA
Governments across the country need to
execute policies that will ensure that the
vulnerable in the society are not in any way
manipulated by the powerful people. This is
why it is vital that all levels of government in
the country evolve programmes that would
economically empower different categories of
Nigerians, especially those that are more
likely to be victims of human trafficking.
Aside this, every agency involved in policing
the nation`s international and local borders
need to be re-oriented and efficiently
empowered to perform this onerous and
sacred duty. It has been claimed, in some
quarters, that the porous nature of our
borders is partly responsible for the current
state of insecurity in the country. This must
be addressed.
Considering its nature as the commercial
nerve centre of Nigeria, and indeed West
Africa, Lagos, without doubt, has its own
experience of this inhuman business.
However, in its characteristic systematic
approach to issues, the State Government
has evolved an holistic strategy to tackle this
menace headlong. For one, it has put in place
several empowerment schemes for different
categories of Lagosians in order to forestall
the idle hands syndrome. There are several
skill acquisition centres across the state
where women and children could acquire
useful skills that would make them become
economically independent and therefore, less
susceptible to exploitation.
Additionally, the State has on ground a
structure for the rehabilitation of casualties
of human trafficking, rape, child abuse,
domestic violence and other related evils.
This, it has done with the establishment of
the Home for Victims of Domestic violence
and Human Trafficking in Ayobo, Ipaja area
of the state. At the home, victims of several
inhuman treatments are provided with a
conducive environment that serves as 'home
away from home. The home offers them free
medical services, food, clothing and,
perhaps, more significantly, an opportunity
to surmount their ordeal. To stem the tide of
human trafficking and other such dastardly
acts, the State is currently implementing a
well planned public education drive across
the state, making use of various media.
To say human trafficking is criminal is
begging the issue because it is
dehumanizing, it is evil. It is man's
inhumanity against man and thus, requires
a louder voice against it and a more concerted
effort to stop it. It is utterly confounding and
shows an absolute lack of conscience that
anyone could consider trading in fellow
human beings as a means of livelihood. We
must, therefore, not subject our world to a
second form of slavery as a famous American
actor, D'Andre Lampkin once said, because
to look away and pretend that it is a small
problem, is to encourage the perpetrators to
be more vicious in this heinous act. God bless
Nigeria.