An Address of welcome Presented by Eucharia Onyemobi state coordinator of NACTAL on the occasion of 3-day Public Awareness Program on prevention of TIP and SOM in Awka Anambra State.
The event Invitation
Network Against Child Trafficking, Abuse and Labour, NACTAL Anambra State Chapter in partnership with FIIAPP under the Action Against Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants in Nigeria, A-TIPSOME invites you to her Community Enlightenment Campaign, School Sensitization and Road Walk Show on Preventing Human Trafficking and Smuggling Of Migrants.
Date: Wednesday 23rd to Friday, 25th March 2022.
Wednesday 23rd @ 10am: Community Enlightenment Campaign. Venue: Hilton Leisure Hotel, Regina Caeli Road, Awka.
Thursday 24th… Rally/Road Walk @ 7am. Meeting Point ABS, near Aroma Junction Awka
Friday 25th March – School Visitations.
please, Join us to eliminate human trafficking in our society
This project is funded by the European Union and implemented by FIIAPP
Protocols:
Since the recent increase in the fight against TIP-SOM by NACTAL and agencies of govt, the traffickers and smugglers and other members of the underworld cartel have continued to upgrade and update their tactics to evade the long arms of the Law. Various efforts at the National levels have yet to be scaled down to community levels where the next potential victims reside.
This 3-Day Sensitization and Enlightenment program against TIP-SOM is aimed at educating members of the public within communities on the dangers of TIP-SOM.
NACTAL in collaboration WITH relevant govt agencies targets public Enlightenment and Sensitization towards identification, tracking,report , eventual arrest, and prosecution of traffickers and their syndicates at the community levels.
As we all know, Trends and patterns of trafficking in persons and the smuggling of migrants has continued to change as smugglers and traffickers continue to change and update their patterns and trends in order to remain ahead in their crime.
In an increasingly interconnected world, human trafficking leaves no community untouched and has since been recognized as a crime against humanity. It diminishes human dignity and makes victims a mere objects for financial and other gratifications. Trafficking in persons and migrant smuggling involves illegal recruitment and movement of persons for the purpose of exploitation.
In Nigeria and South east in particular, different factors predispose people to traffic including secessionist agitations from IPOB and unknown social, political, economic or cultural reasons. It is worthy to note that in recent time, the trend and patterns have continued to change within Nigeria. Worthy of note is the drastic increase in the phenomenon of “baby factory” in some parts of the SE, leading young girls to be mobilized into the trafficking cycle and giving birth to children who are sold in the black markets to unknown persons for criminal, abusive purposes and sexual exploitation.
Trafficking in persons is not a new phenomenon in Nigeria only that without sensitization in new patterns and trends, it will be hard to combat.
Due to the increasing wave of trafficking in persons and the smuggling of migrants, it has been described as a modern-day slavery.
Various factors predispose people to traffic. Some of these include decay in public institutions, rural-urban migration, poor governance, corruption, changes in family size, low level of education and poor economic status of families. Others are old traditional norms that create inequality among children, the porosity of our borders, lack of alternative economic opportunities, devaluation of naira, unemployment and changes in the trends of household responsibilities to women in some cultures, etc. These factors overall contribute to higher and increasing vulnerability of victims.
As we all know, the practical consequences of TIP and SOM are domestic servitudes, organized begging, commercial sex work, enslavement, pornography, prostitution etc. The inability of victims to report these issues or acknowledge the effects of such crime to their individual well-being makes them even more vulnerable.
There are many routes through which people are trafficked. These are road transport, airports for those who got visas through falsification of documents in collaboration with corrupt officials especially those with Schengen VISA where it has been discovered that many Nigerians travel with one passport. Others are by roads via deserts where they are smuggled by boats and ships through the Mediterranean sea to Europe.
Research has shown that traffickers and smugglers have many recruitment centres within the Southeast zone. ; Anambra, Imo, and Ebonyi are some hotspot states. The most popular destination for the trafficked victims from SE are Abuja, Lagos, Italy, Spain, and other EU destinations. Those who are unable to reach Europe, end up being trapped in North Africa – Libya, Algeria and Morocco. It is estimated that Nigeria has about ten thousand (10,000) prostitutes living in Italy alone. Alternatively, countries like the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Austria, Canada, Lebanon, and Germany are some of the new destination countries where trafficked migrants end up. Within Africa, Nigerians are trafficked to Cote d’Ivoire, South Africa, Togo, Guinea, Benin, Mali, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Niger republic, Cameron, Gabon and Liberia.
The trafficking routes involve all neighboring countries that share borders with Nigeria such as Benin republic, Cameron, Niger, and Chad Republic. The route between Niger, Chad and Nigeria has been described as a “triangle of shame”.
As we gather here for the next 3 days, I urge us not to relent in finding new ways to tackle the menace of TIP and SOM in Nigeria. May God bless.
I thank you all and wish you a very memorable stay in Awka the serene beautiful capital city of Anambra the Light of the Nation.
STATE CO-ORDINATOR, NACTAL ANAMBRA STATE.
