Follow Us on Google
… Rescued 2,000 trafficked children in last two years
From Scholastica Hir, Makurdi
As part of efforts to reduce trafficking among children to the barest minimum in Nigeria, the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation (NIDO) Africa, has extended their sensitization campaign to Makurdi, the Benue State capital.
Speaking at the campaign against human trafficking and drug abuse at Government Model Secondary School, Makurdi, at the weekend, the Continental Chairman of NIDO Africa, Professor Jude Osakwe the National Assembly to enact laws to ensure stiff penalties for parents and guardians who aid or permit the trafficking of their children and wards.
Osakwe, who noted that some families are active accomplices in the crime, said NIDO Africa had launched a nationwide grassroots campaign aimed at educating secondary school students on the dangers of trafficking.
He noted that Benue is the first state on the campaign route, with Delta, Edo and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) scheduled to follow.
He said the organization had shifted its focus from merely rescuing victims abroad to preventing trafficking through awareness at the grassroots.
He said “We are also trying to see how we can send a bill to the National Assembly so that parents and guardians can also be held accountable because most of these things that happen, some parents and guardians are accomplices. They allow their children and wards to be taken out of this country. If they are prosecuted, I think it will go a long way to check this issue of trafficking that is bedevilling our country.”
Osakwe lamented that many young Nigerians, particularly girls, are lured with false promises of employment overseas only to end up as victims of sexual exploitation, forced labour and modern-day slavery.
“Most of the time traffickers promise them jobs in restaurants and several other places, but in the end they are used as sex slaves, prostitutes and for forced labour. We have tried as much as possible to rescue many of them and return them to Nigeria. However, we feel it is better to go to the grassroots because prevention is better than rescue,” he stated.
According to him, NIDO Africa has rescued about 2,000 trafficked children in the last two years, while task forces have been established in countries including Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire with another to come up in Congo to intensify the arrest and prosecution of traffickers.
He disclosed that one trafficker who smuggled his two younger sisters to Ghana had been convicted and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment, adding that similar enforcement efforts had forced many traffickers into hiding.
Osakwe also announced plans to establish vocational and skills acquisition centres for rescued victims to equip them with livelihoods and reduce their vulnerability to re-trafficking saying “Most of them are trafficked because they feel they have nothing to do to sustain themselves. That is why we are introducing the skills acquisition programme.”
The Director of Public Prosecution in the Benue State Ministry of Justice and Secretary of the State Task Force on Human Trafficking, Dooshima Ortsega, described the campaign as timely, especially with the growing number of displaced children resulting from insecurity across the state.
She noted that many out-of-school and displaced children had become easy targets for traffickers but said the awareness campaign had equipped students with the knowledge to identify trafficking indicators, reject false promises and report suspicious activities.
“The knowledge impacted in these children today has given them an understanding of what trafficking is, what causes it, the consequences and what they can do so they do not fall prey. They have also been told not to keep quiet whenever someone approaches them with false promises,” Ortsega said.
She assured that the Benue State Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force will continue to partner organizations like NIDO Africa to help deepen the campaign.
According to her, the task force brings together law enforcement agencies, the Ministry of Justice, NAPTIP, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and other government institutions to ensure coordinated investigation and prosecution of trafficking cases.
The Makurdi Zonal Commander of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Hembadoon Kuma, said the command had secured three convictions for trafficking-related offences this year alone.
Kuma noted that “Human trafficking cannot be fought by NAPTIP alone. We need stakeholders. That is why we welcome this collaboration with NIDO Africa which also involves the Ministry of Justice, Education, Women Affairs, Youth and Sports and other partners. Together we can tackle this global menace.”
Some students who spoke at the event Benedicta Tyoapine and Samson Agbul, appreciated NIDO Africa for bringing the campaign to their school adding that the programme has broadened their understanding of the dangers of trafficking and drug abuse.
An SS II Science A student, Benedicta Tyoapine, said “Our eyes have been opened to the dangers of trafficking. We now know that we should never follow anyone anywhere without the knowledge of our parents. We will also take this message to our homes and communities. Parents should also be careful because traffickers usually approach them first before taking their children,” she said.
On his part, Samson Agbul of SS I described human trafficking as a major challenge in Benue state and thanked NIDO Africa for the intervention pledging to extend the awareness campaign to his family and community.
