HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN EDO STATE

THE REAL REASON WHY HUMAN TRAFFICKING THRIVES IN NIGERIA.

TAKE EDO STATE AS A CASE STUDY.

A PROJECT  DANIEL ASEKHAME FOUNDATION

The reasons for people to traffic on fellow human  beings is not quite too far fetched , especially in a country like Nigeria with a lot of hardship and very poor living conditions, no government presence or care for citizens , endemic corruption and total eclipse of unemployment looming the nation. the business of human trafficking then now becomes one of the easiest business to undertake and the raw materials for traffickers  readily available and easily acquired. The raw materials being human beings themselves, since the people are promised  greener pastures in Europe and western countries these people are readily available to be trafficked and even pay monies to enable themselves to be trafficked. The business is so lucrative because  profits at most times comes from both ends to the traffickers , the trafficked and the trafficker spend monies for the operation to take place. In Edo State there are so many families that sell their properties to enable them traffic their children. They believe that once the child is outside the country they would be able to eran better and send items such as second hand cars and household items for the family to trade on.

The level of illiteracy and hunger , outright disrespect for fellow human beings and the quest for a better life are the major hobs that encourage the act  human trafficking in Edo State. it is not a business that can easily be discouraged and the trafficked is always or at most times in cooperation with the trafficker. So it is not easy to detect the trafficked except when things go really bad between the two and maybe the agreed amount of money agreed has been defaulted and there is problem between the two --the trafficked and the trafficker then breaks the union and reports could be made.

Nigeria is a huge joke when talking about the state of affairs of the people living in it so any signal towards , a better life even if dehumanizing is a big opportunity and the trafficked feels helped by being trafficker.

The family background is also a big issue as this helps to influence the trafficked, those families that have people already living abroad want to get there by all means this also encourage them to get trafficked easily, Families here in Nigeria feel very happy at most times that their child have left the shores of this country for greener pastures Human trafficking is a thing of joy and a sign of progress here in Nigeria.

At most times the young boys and girls leave by themselves to embank on the trips by going through Libya, Mali and other routes where they think they can get through to Europe that is self trafficking as they later turn themselves out to the traffickers when the times go rough. They are often taken advantage of and most times robbed of their monies leaving the stranded, or subjecting them to  sex labour and abuse. In some cases organ harvest can take place where they are drugged and allowed to sleep . Before they wake up their organs have been removed, mostly one kidney is removed for sale and then they are abandoned either to live or die.

Those trafficked abroad are then locked up and subjected to sex jobs and other jobs , the trafficker then spells out the terms and time frame for payment, or in other cases they are given jobs but the MADAM as they are called collects their earning and give them back peanuts barely enough to make them survive. They lose their freedom and human dignity at this point.

Those that are domestically trafficked are used as household slaves to serve their employers, they get referred by the trafficker to a household looking for a house help, they do not have the opportunity to negotiate their earnings the money is usually paid to the trafficker, while the child/trafficked do the job. They are badly maltreated and given heavy load of work to do they undergo domestic violence and abuse, most times they are not allowed  access to education. This kind of trafficking is well established and common in the Edo State and the entire country.

Now the big question is how can we stop or reduce human trafficking ??

 Taking Edo State as a case study, the evil of human trafficking can be reduced by the following steps.

1) The provision of skill acquisition centers to train people that are jobless and without skill of any kind so they can acquire skills to help them fend for themselves 

especially the girls/women which are more trafficked than the boys/men. This however must come with the provision of starter packs for them to enable them establish.

2) The government must create an agency in the state, where people who require or keep house help must register such helps documented, this will create an avenue to check how the helps are paid and where the funds go. Furthermore, how the helps are treated , what age bracket and what the keeper is doing to secure the future of the help if still a minor.

3) NATIP must be ready to do more in areas of investigation and prosecution of people found to be involved in human trafficking. Long difficult time must be allocated to the crime to discourage the practice.

4) There must a 10 yrs massive sensitization period for young people with the use of illustrative materials and basic school guides, and films and documentary to show them how the human traffickers operate and deceive their victims into slavery