- •Over 20,000 victims rescued, 604 convicted
Many victims of human trafficking returned to the country from Libya have had their kidneys, other vital organs harvested in that country without their knowledge, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) revealed yesterday.
NAPTIP’s Director General, Prof. Fatima Waziri-Azi, said the trafficked victims were usually served drinks laced with drugs before the organ harvesters took advantage of them, adding that most of the victims only knew after they were assisted back home by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and medical screening conducted at the point of arrival.
Prof. Waziri-Azi disclosed this at a training and capacity development orientation on standard reporting template for journalists and officers of NAPTIP’s press and public relations unit held in Lagos.
The DG, who was represented by the Director, Intelligence Training and Manpower Development, Arinze Orakwe, said: “Majority of the victims are irregular migrants and displaced persons. As a result, they are subjected to any kind of ill-treatment by the criminals who exploit them.
“We got to know about the incident when they were brought back home by the IOM. Immediately they are brought back home, through their medical screening, we got to know what happened to the returnees.
“Many of them were surprised to find incision on them and discovered that their organs had been harvested by the criminals.
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“The criminals are not only harvesting kidneys, they also take bile, pancreas among others. Those who returned safely should thank God.
“In this part of the world, we are quick to classify people who cut off body parts as ritual killers, but it is a serious business in countries like Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, India and presently in South Africa where organs businesses are thriving.”
According to the DG, the essence of the training was to get participants to feel the nuances; share the pains/trauma of victims; the callousness of travelers; the obscenity of it all; the compassion of law enforcement, the dilemma of protection officers and the need for decisiveness of the judiciary in handling cases arising from the abuse of the human rights of persons by human traffickers.
She said: “Human trafficking is a clear and present danger to all. It’s a waste of our best and brightest and has huge human security implication.
“Human Trafficking is the meeting point of desperation or displaced persons in the society and obscene and callous individuals who must cash in on the desperation to get out of poverty. Consent of a victim is not an excuse at all.
“I believe that at the end of this engagement, we will not only develop an effective working tool, but build a robust media corps tackling issues of human trafficking in Nigeria.”
In his presentation, the Zonal Commander, Benin, Nduka Nwanwenne, said the agency had since inception in 2003, rescued 20,660 trafficked victims, convicted 604, arrested 9,102
suspected human traffickers and recorded 11,291 reports of human trafficking.
He said over 25,000 trafficked Nigerian women and girls are trapped in Mali, adding that the victims were attracted to Malian men because they spent lavishly on women compared to Nigerian men.
“The second major reason is that Malian men are proud of sleeping with women from Nigeria, the giant of Africa,” he said.
Nwanwenne, who spoke on “emerging tricks and trends in human trafficking: a case study of Southsouth region”, said 40 persons have been convicted this year alone, adding that 80 convictions were secured last year.
He said the region was endemic to the menace, giving instances of both internal and external trafficking cases handled by the zone.
Also speaking, the Team Lead, Action Against Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants in Nigeria (A-TIPSOM)/ International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policies (FIIAP), Federico Millan, said the organisation’s partnership with NAPTIP had recorded huge successes especially back in his home country, Spain.
He said in the last two years, there have been no flight conveying migrants from Spain back to Nigeria, a drastic drop from the past where on average, a cargo flight loaded with returnees usually left the country for Nigeria monthly.
He said there had also been a drop in the police units specialised in tackling issues of irregular migrants and trafficked persons in his country.
According to him, there used to be three enforcement units dedicated to persons from Nigeria alone but that had reduced to one which handles Nigeria alongside other countries, an indication that there was a reduction in the number of persons trafficked to that country.
Also, the DG decried the rise in trafficking of girls under the age of 12, to the Republic of Gambia for sexual exploitation.
Prof. Waziri-Azi, who spoke during an inaugural joint technical working group meeting on the Nigeria/Gambia Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), said the girls were made to work in restaurants during the day and as prostitutes at night.
She said trafficking to The Gambia for sexual exploitation was booming because of the country’s sex tourism industry, where mostly young girls were dating older men.
She said: “It is definitely a problem in terms of trafficking of young children into the Gambia because we know that the Gambia has what we call the sex tourism industry, where you see mostly young girls dating older men.
“Last year when my team and I visited The Gambia, part of what we did during that visit was to meet with the Nigerian community and share with them the mandate of NAPTIP and how they can work with us.
“Information reaching us is that children as young as 12 are being trafficked into The Gambia, the girls are made to work in restaurants during the day and as prostitutes at night so it is a huge problem that both countries recognise and we are both committed to tackle.
“Apart from Gambia, Nigeria is collaborating with other countries. In 2021, we signed a bilateral agreement with the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire and another with the Republic of Burkina Faso. In 2022 we signed with Niger Republic and our cooperation with Niger has been very fantastic.
“It has increased the numbers of rescues and reparations from the Northern part of the country…”
