From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), has raised the alarm that many Nigerian women are in horrible and inhumane situation in Iraq.
NAPTIP, in a statement, on Wednesday, said it has received reports of many Nigerian young women working as domestic workers in Iraq who are being exploited in diverse ways on daily basis, hence they are requesting assistance to return home.
The statement noted that the Director-General of NAPTIP, Prof. Fatima Waziri-Azi, had confirmed that the Agency was investigating several rogue labour recruiters who have been reported to be big players in the massive recruitment of Nigerians to Iraq for domestic servitude.
She, however, stressed the need for people to evaluate every offer carefully and seek second and third opinion before accepting offers outside the country.
She added: “Because of the proactive activities and collaborative efforts of NAPTIP and its partners in raising awareness around issues of human trafficking to some of the known destination countries, traffickers have shifted attention to Iraq.
“We are inundated with pleas for rescue and repatriation from female victims trafficked to Iraq especially to the cities of Baghdad and Basra, where they are distributed to various homes by their recruitment agents to a hard life of domestic servitude.
“Available information shows that many of these victims have been admitted to hospital many times due to long work hours under harsh conditions they are forced to undergo.
Most of them have complained of deteriorating health resulting from the weight of work.
“They are constantly under threat of being harmed either by their direct employers or the Iraqi agents each time they complained of unbearable workload.
“Many of them have no access to their phones because the phones were seized immediately they are paired with an employer. They are never allowed out of the premises where they are serving and even when communication is established with them for rescue, they cannot give details of their location because they do not know where they are. It is indeed a very scary situation.
“Aside the workload imposed on them by their taskmasters, they are constantly being sexually harassed by members of the household where they are serving, aggravating their situation.
“It is very important to be cautious about this desperate quest to travel out of Nigeria for greener pastures, which is the reason so many fall prey to traffickers, and the lies of labour recruiters who promise juicy jobs overseas.
“You must remember that if a sponsor facilitates your travel abroad, you will be required to do any job to pay off your sponsor before you earn money for yourself.”