Our Reporter
A non-governmental organisation (NGO), the Network Against Child Trafficking, Abuse and Labour (NACTAL), at the weekend sensitised residents of border communities in Seme, Lagos State, on the dangers of irregular migration and travelling without documents.
Mr. Adaramola Emmanuel, the NGO president, told reporters in Seme that the sensitisation became imperative due to increase in the number of Nigerians dying in the Mediterranean desert, Libya, Mali and Morocco.
He said: “Most of these people do not know the truth about what is happening beyond the border. So we are here in Seme to sensitise the communities around here about it.
“We want to discuss with them the hazards of irregular migration, people travelling without documents, travelling with fake documents, people being smuggled across the border with the hope of getting to Europe.
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“It is unfortunate that most of them don’t get to Europe, they die in the desert.
“In the fight against human trafficking, irregular migration and human smuggling, we discover that there is the need to sensitise the border communities in Seme and Idiroko on the hazard. This is why we are here today.”
Emmanuel said that the group had gone round Seme to sensitise residents on the evil of human trafficking.
“We will be having a film show in the evening on true stories of people who lost their lives and pictures of things that happened across the border.
“We will expose them to the truth of trafficking, the drivers and the okada riders are actually accomplices.
“They are the ones that take people across the border.
“We have moved round the town, motor parks, with security agencies like the Police and Nigeria Immigration Service. We spoke to market women, commercial motorcyclists (okada riders) and others.
“We told them the truth about their people abroad who they think are outside the country doing well that most of them are dead.
“Some of them asked us questions and we answered them politely,” he said.
Emmanuel said the NGO would hold a stakeholders’ meeting with community leaders and heads of associations at Owode today.
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