Human trafficking: Nigerians, mostly girls, in camps across West Africa

Fred Ezeh, Abuja

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has said that thousands of Nigerians, most of whom are girls, are still being held captive in different trafficking camps in some neighbouring West African countries.

NAPTIP said preliminary investigations confirmed that trafficking camps in neighbouring West African countries are bigger than what is found in Libya. The Agency said it is a big threat to Nigeria and Africa.

NAPTIP Director General Julie Okah–Donli, in a statement by NAPTIP spokesman, Vincent Adeokoya, said that her Agency has commenced interface with relevant stakeholders and other partners that would assist its operatives to visit the affected locations for identification and profiling of the victims before evacuation.

She was happy that the development did not take them unawares like the case of modern human slavery in Libya involving thousands of Nigerian captives.

The NAPTIP boss said that the human rights crisis in Libya was a big lesson to Nigeria and other African countries.

“It was an indication that a lot of Nigerians that set out to travel to Europe for “greener pastures” never made it to their target destination, rather they are trapped in various detention camps scattered all over war-torn Libya,” she said.

“At the peak of the Libyan human crisis, I visited the camps and saw the horrible state of living of the detainees. More worrisome was that some of them are sold as commodities in the market.”