17 August 2008
Lagos — In the last five years, human trafficking has assumed a phenomenal dimension with perpetrators grossing billons of naira annually. NAPTIP, an agency established by the Federal Government to fight this scourge celebrated its half decade anniversary where experts examined its performance as well as charting a new course for the body. It restated its resolve to rid the country of this obnoxious trade. Roland Ogbonnaya writes
About six years ago, a middle aged woman, Sara Okoya, was brought before the Edo State High Court, Benin City. She was charged for procuring and organising foreign travel for three girls from Uromi, Edo State to Cotonou, Republic of Benin and promised to take them to Spain where they were they will be employed in her shop and salon. Instead of giving them the job as promised, the three girls were introduced to prostitution in Cotonou by the accused person.
The table turned for Sara when the girls gallantly refused to be forced into the 'Red Curtain' business and reported to the manager of the hotel Sara lodged them. The manager promptly took them to the Nigerian Embassy in that country which facilitated their return to Nigeria. On November 19, 2004, Sara was found guilty for an attempt to commit the offences and was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment without any option of fine.
In far away Kano State, society lady Hajia Hussaina Ibrahim was also convicted by the High Court of Justice, for also organising foreign travel and trafficking of a victim from Kano to Saudi Arabia. The court heard that on arrival to Jeddah, the victim's travelling documents and international passport were seized by Hussaina. The victim was promised a lucrative job in Saudi Arabia, but was forced into prostitution. All her earnings through prostitution were retained by the accused who claimed the victim must pay back the cost of taking her to Saudi Arabia.
Unfortunately both the trafficker and the victim were deported to Nigerian by Saudi Arabian authorities. The second accused person, who facilitated the trafficking of the victim by purchasing the international passport and air ticket, got someone who disguised as the husband to the victim and escorted her to the airport. Delivering judgment on July 26, 2005, the court sentenced Hussaina to three years imprisonment without any option of fine, while her accomplice got two years imprisonment without option of fine also.
This year alone, more than four people have been convicted to various jail terms for human trafficking. They include Anthony Ekene who was convicted to two years jail term by the Federal High Court, Sokoto for procuring and organising foreign trip which promotes prostitution. The same court this year also found Kate Ehiolpamwan of procuring and organising foreign travel by deceitful means. He was also handed two years jail term.
These convictions are among other 25 cases various courts across the country have passed judgment and convictions made. What these convictions shown or highlighted is the increasing and lucrative nature of human trafficking and the effort deployed by National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons and Other Related Matters (NAPTIP) to fight this scourge that is assuming a phenomenal proportion in Nigeria. The agency was established five years ago by the Federal Government to fight all forms of human trafficking in the country.
Last week, the agency gathered experts and stakeholders to examine its activities in the last half decade and proffer solutions on how to fight the scourge which is not only lucrative, but also dehumanising. The two-day event at the ECOWAS Secretariat, Abuja, also provided an ambience for the launching of the 'Red Card' to human trafficking, an exercise conducted by the Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Mr. Michael Anodoakaa (SAN) on behalf of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua.
The card which has various telephone numbers people can call to report cases of human trafficking also listed some questions like: don't you know that: If you procure any person for illicit intercourse you risk a 10-year jail term, if you procure any under 18 years for unlawful carnal knowledge, you will be jailed for 10 years, if you employ any under 18 as domestic help outside your family environment you risk going to jail for five years and if you permit any place within or outside Nigeria to be used for forced labour you will be sent to jail for five years? Other information include: if you employ a child to a work that is so tedious that will adversely affect his physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development, you will be sent to jail for five years as well as if you export people out of Nigeria or import people in the country as slaves, you be sent to jail for life?
Quoting Sarah Elizabeth Mendelson, Professor Mabel Evwierhoma of the University of Abuja described human trafficking as "the recruitment, harbouring and movement of people through the use of force, fraud, and deception for the express purpose of enslavement." She added that trafficking can occur within or across national borders, while the trafficked person engages in labour and bondage until such a time freedom is attained through escape or financial settlement of the trafficker.
The professor further explained that victims of trafficking often believe tales of 'greener pastures' outside their homelands and often regret the act after the destination is reached. She stated that trafficking is a rights issue and should be treated as such, explaining that available literature on trafficking shows the global dimensions of trafficking in humans, especially women and children. Trafficking can be local or international and it involves women mainly for prostitution, forced labour and domestics, drug couriers, sex work and international crime; children in form of illegal adoption as in the case in the Sudan and Koma hills, children pornography and prostitution in sex tourism or apprentices in shrines. For men, it can be in form of debt-bondage and forced labour as farm and factory hands.
From these different forms may emerge human traffickers who were themselves trafficked, accounting for generational perspective to human trafficking. Evwierhoma however said that in the case of Nigeria and according to statistics from NAPTIP, the country is not in the first and second generation of human trafficking. The points of attraction here, "she said are the status and social acceptance some means of financial independence may accord the trafficked, the perceived successes of accumulated wealth or small and medium scale investment of victims and settlement of family debt."
Launching the Red Card, President Yar'Adua admitted that the global dimension of the challenge and the need for a concerted effort at checking the menace of the trade led to the adoption of the United Nations Convention, which Nigeria ratified eight years ago on Transnational Organised Crime and its supplementing protocol to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons, especially women and children. The earlier establishment of NAPTIP in 2003, the President said underscored the Federal Government's resolve to protect the vulnerable persons in our society, especially the women and children.
In addition to putting in place the legal and administrative structures to fight the crime of human trafficking within the nation's border, Yar'Adua said "we have also implemented several bilateral and multilateral treaties, including regional and inter-regional plans of action, to combat this menace across the borders. In this regard, of particular significance is the memorandum of understanding entered into between the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Economic Community of Central African States ECCAS)."
The president further stated that the menace of internal trafficking and child labour should be of great concern to all the three tiers of government. He said there is need to ensure that policies and programmes are put in place to deny the purveyors of these acts of inhumanity a ready reservoir of vulnerable for recruitment. "Ongoing policy initiatives of the promotion of compulsory education of all children of school age up to the approved level, the diligent pursuit of poverty alleviation an employment generation schemes and the provision of social safety nets will all contributes immensely to this endeavour," he emphasised. He promised continued Federal Government support to NAPTIP to enable the agency effectively meet its statutory mandate, while commending the staff and management.
It is believed that human trafficking yields about $10 billion annually and an estimated four million persons are trafficked yearly. Available statistics also revealed that eight million Nigerian children go through various forms of child labour, serving mainly as domestic servants, street hawkers and prostitutes. It's equally established that about 80 per cent of prostitutes in Italy came from Africa, while 60 per cent of them are Nigerians. These statistics, the wife of the President, Hajia Turai Yar'Adua said is quite worrisome and Nigerians can no longer fold their hands and do nothing.
She regretted that African society known for its close ties, brotherliness and defence for one another has suddenly degenerated to a level where human dignity is sacrificed on the alter of greed and craze for material wealth. "When I look back into the African culture, I begin to see some semblance of culture playing visible role in this unfortunate involvement. We belong to a culture where women and the girl child play subservient roles. The branding of women and girls as commodities for sex trade is predicated on gender and gender roles ascribed to them by the society. The gender roles ascribed to them predispose them to human trafficking," the first lady said at the event.
While encouraging wives of state governors to take advantage of the knowledge brought to bear in creating awareness on the emerging trends on human trafficking, Hajia Yar'Adua stressed however that all hands must be on deck in the fight against the scourge of human trafficking. The campaign against this scourge, she emphasised must start from families as parents must stop shirking their responsibilities of proper upbringing of the children. "We must put away the get-rich-quick syndrome that has bedeviled the society. Our vision should be the attainment of zero tolerance to human trafficking and I believe with strong will, total dedication, absolute commitment and unity-in-action, we can do it," she said.
While Dr. Robert Limlim of the UNICEF agreed with the first lady, he said stated that there is need to protect and assist vulnerable children, which he said is the responsibility of every one. He identified the vulnerable children as those who lost one or both parents, those living with terminally or chronically ill parents or caregivers as well as children on the street/hawkers, child beggers/destitutes as well as neglected and abandoned children amongst others.
Limlim explained that in Nigeria about seven million children are orphans from all causes and 1.3 million children from HIV/AIDS alone, while approximately 250 million children work, with 60 million in the most dangerous forms of child labour. He said the strategies and approaches to protect the vulnerable children must be multisectoral involving whole civil society and children themselves.
Mrs. Bisi Olateru-Olagbegi, the executive director of Women's Consortium of Nigeria (WOCON) buys Limlim's view. She however said that the community can only effectively participate in curbing the trend of human trafficking if they fully understand and appreciate the manifestations of the phenomenon. The community she stressed need to understand what constitutes human trafficking and various components and elements that constitute human trafficking in order to strategise or determine the areas of respective intervention.
"It is pertinent to mention that due to the complexity of the issue of trafficking in persons, reducing the issue to mere definitions will not suffice. However, definitions are useful in defining the scope of the problem, in setting expectations for action and gathering reliable data, among other things. It is therefore very important that the community understands the definition and scope of the issue of TIP (trafficking in persons)," she stated.
For communities to be involved in curbing trafficking in persons, the first thing is to acknowledge the need for collaborative efforts between individuals, neighbouring communities, local, state and federal governments as well as the international community. Within the local communities, especially, rural areas, there should be a very potent sensitisation of every person, starting from the youngest to the communities' heads.
On the area of sensitisation and awareness, NAPTIP has done a lot of work in collaboration with other non-governmental organisations and community base organisations. Speaking on some of its activities in the past five years, the Executive Secretary of the agency, Mrs. Carol Ndaguba said the agency has pursued an aggressive public enlightenment campaigns through bill boards across the country, open-air/grassroots campaigns in states, tertiary institutions, secondary schools, traditional institutions, faith based groups, provision of information, communication and education materials.
In order to keep track of the minutest details concerning victims, suspects and/or traffickers, NAPTIP established a national monitoring centre which is responsible for collating and analysing data on traffickers, victims, court proceedings and judgments and other relevant information. In this regard, "I will like to express our sincere gratitude to the Italian Government and the American Bar Association for their support," she added.
In doing this also, the agency has faced huge challenges, especially in the area of finance. Because it does not know the number of victims or even traffickers to expect at any given year, budgeting becomes difficult and budgetary allocation is usually never enough. There the challenge of getting victims to testify as a result of the oath of secrecy they had taken. This has often times delayed judicial process, while negotiating bilateral agreement and extradition of offenders living in destination countries is another barrier in the judicial process. "Only victims are usually repatriated, making it difficult for us to prosecute offenders in destination countries, even when they are well known," Mrs. Ndaguba reiterated.
She stated that her vision for Nigeria in the next five years is a country completely rid of the menace of trafficking in persons; a country where women and children are treated with respect all their rights upheld.
As said earlier, NAPTIP has allies in Italian and Netherlands Governments. Both countries at the fifth anniversary sent in their solidarity messages. The Italian Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr. Massimo Baistrocchi said a s natural Mediterranean bridge with Africa, his country is exposed to the menace of human trafficking, a phenomenon which has experienced an upsurge in volume in the last couple of years.
For his government, combating illegal immigration and human trafficking has become a priority both in terms of security and foreign policy. He said the achievements in the field of curbing human trafficking represent an important aspect of the general cooperation between the two countries and constitute a genuine proof of his country's commitment to strengthening its bilateral relationships.
Ambassador Arie Van Der Wiel of Netherlands said by tackling the problem of human trafficking, the agency is trying to kill two birds with one stone-trying to rehabilitate the victims as well as cracking down on the criminal networks. "Indeed, prevention is better than cure. This workshop is exactly about that: raising awareness among victims about the dangers of trafficking. Traffickers usually lure these young women to travel to Europe with promises of good jobs. But also the prosecution of traffickers themselves remains a serious challenge, if not the biggest, confirming Mrs. Ndaguba's earlier position.
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