Human trafficking: Poverty, unemployment responsible, expert says – Punch Newspapers

A United Kingdom-based Nigerian, Dr Olalekan Ogungbemi, has revealed that poverty, unemployment and inadequate funding for relevant agencies to enable them discharge their functions effectively were the reasons for human trafficking in Nigeria and Africa in general.

Ogungbemi, a renowned public health expert, disclosed this to our correspondent in Lafia, on Saturday, while giving an insight to his recently published book titled ‘Samanta's Story: One Story, Many Victims'.

He identified other systemic factors that made the cycle of human trafficking very hard to stop to include: Bribery, social stigma and rejection from family members.

Ogungbemi, in his book, x-rays the lead character, a 17-year-old Samanta Matama, who hails from southern part of Nigeria, as a victim of human trafficking for prostitution.

The author says Matama is just one of the thousands of girls, particularly from Africa and Asia, who are being lured and herded across border, by both land and sea, with unrealistic promises of better life, with the help of human smugglers for the purpose of making money as a sex worker.

He said, “The book, which has 12 chapters and 89 pages, tells the story of ignorance, regret, anguish, anger, neglect, disillusionment, superstition, shame, deceit, corruption, bribery, organised crime, institutional shortcomings and systemic failures that bred and still breeding human trafficking.

“Although, child trafficking happens in all other continents, it is in a high proportion in Africa, particularly Nigeria, as it is being fueled by unemployment, insecurity, poverty, hunger and deprivation, making the victims more vulnerable.

“The traffickers, fondly called madam, use deceit, financial gift, flamboyant lifestyle as a bait to hoodwink victims to believe that grass is really greener and rosy at the other side.

“And girls are imported by criminal gangs from poor countries in the northern and western parts of the continent. They are exported and forced to pay from their daily earning to be able to pay off heavy debt placed on them by their madams.”

He added that, often times, these girls, while working as househelps, are told to carry out sexual acts against their wishes.

The author, however, pointed out that the victims were made to swear to an oath using their body parts – pubic hair and blood – to keep them locked up in a cage of their own fear, ignorance and superstitious beliefs so as not to escape.

“The book depicts human trafficking as a vicious cycle of cruelty and exploitation in which survivors of trafficking, after years of forced prostitution, have become traffickers themselves,” he added.

Ogungbemi said the book depicted corruption, systemic failure, lackadaisical attitude of police officers and immigration policies as reasons why human trafficking thrive in the society.

According to the author, human trafficking business thrives in spite of the establishment of relevant organisations such as the International Organisation for Migration, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, and the National Human Right Commission.

He, therefore, harped on the need to stem the tide of this dehumanising business in the country.

He also advised the government to be proactive in the prevention, rather than reactive, by making such journeys unattractive and also stopping illegal movement of girls from the shores of the country.

He further advised parents to be observant in order to recognise traffickers and their offers of job to their children that sound suspicious, saying that any parent who is found to aid traffickers to take custody of their children with the intent for trafficking should be punished.