Trafficking in human beings is a ‘cancerous’ problem that has negative impacts on every aspect of the human society globally. Recent statistics by the global slavery index show that no fewer than 875,500 humans are being trafficked annually and that 45.8 million people are living in one form of slavery or the other in about 167 countries around the world.
Many teenagers and young girls have become a victim of Trafficking due to factors like economic recession, poverty and ignorance. Recently an information was gotten that 26 girls aged between 14-18 were found dead aboard a vessel at the coastal town of Salerno, Italy.
D.G, National Agency For The Prohibition of Trafficking In Persons, Julie Okah-Donli, joined the ladies of YourViewTVC to enlighten people more on how to ‘curb human trafficking in Nigeria’.
Julie Okah-Donli emphasized that ignorance is a key factor as regards human trafficking, she said;
“It’s not a poverty thing anymore but more of ignorance because a lot of them believe they can get a better life out there. The girls don’t have an idea about what they are going there for. They are given the impression that jobs await them, some think they are going for modelling jobs, some ushering jobs, some thinking they will work in a salon and so on. Most of these girls are taken through the means of fraud and deceit.”
Julie Okah-Donli further advised that people should be careful of fake travelling agents because they are dangerous.
Speaking about NAPTIP’s effort in curbing human trafficking, she said,
“We has embarked on a massive awareness campaign, taking it from the grass root, community to community. We are not sensitizing on the young girls alone, we are also sensitizing on their parents. The parents don’t have access to the internet so these guys go to them and deceive them giving them rosy pictures like, ‘we’ll send your children to school on scholarship’ etc. So the campaign is all of the society, all of the people, everyone is involved.”
She later revealed that many Nigerians are traffickers because they pay their maids’ salaries to their agents.
“A lot of Nigerians are traffickers in the sense that they pay salaries of their house-helps to the so-called agents who are traffickers. These agents bring many boys and girls from various state, and distribute them to one house or the other. Then after a year, the house-helps ask to go see their parents and they never return, they have actually been recycled and taken to another place. So if you don’t pay directly to your house-help, you are a trafficker and you will be prosecuted if you are caught.”
She finally advised that the society should not condemn them as a criminal but see them as a victim.
