As the world is bent on tackling human trafficking scourge, 20,000 ladies from Edo and Delta states of Nigeria are currently into prostitution in Mali.
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) said its statistics show that human trafficking was more prevalent in the two states
The Benin Zonal NAPTIP Commander, Nduka Nwanwenne disclosing this at Okpekpe, Etsako East Local Government Area of Edo, during the “I’m not for Sale” campaign in the area said though there were other reasons for human trafficking which is a global issue,he noted that prostitution was the most common from the two states.
He said that since 2004 when NAPTIP was established in the state, about 50 ladies of Etsako extraction had been returned to Nigeria from other countries, even as he grieved that organ harvesting has also become the latest angle to human trafficking.
He said that in view of this, there was need for protection of the children and youths.
The Zonal Commander, who also said human trafficking occurred internationally and locally, revealed that in the next few weeks, the agency would raid suspected hotels in the state where the act do take place.
The agency has kept its searchlight on hotels in the zone for some time now and had a list of suspected ones.
Meanwhile, Mrs Blessing Eshilama, the Ughwuede of Okpekpe and NAPTIP’s partner on the sensitisation programme, said that trafficking in women was a new form of slavery.
Eshilama also said that extant literature had shown that human trafficking in the country thrived as a result of deep-rooted system failure.
She stressed that there was urgent need to prevent human trafficking and sexual exploitation of youths and children, especially girls.
“The life of every Okpekpe son and daughter matters; no Okpekpe indigene should fall for the tricks these human traffickers employ,” she said.
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