LAGOS, IKEJA – The International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), Ikeja Branch, and the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), have called for synergy with various government agencies to fight human trafficking in Nigeria.
They said this at the one-day training organized by the members of the anti-human trafficking committee of the branch in collaboration with NAPTIP, in Lagos.
The training had the theme: “Strengthening Partnership in Combating Human Trafficking.”
Speaking at the training, the Chairperson of FIDA, Ikeja Branch, Mrs Nnenna Eze, stressed the need for other governmental agencies to collaborate and fight against the menace.
“What we are doing today is a form of partnership because from the training today we discovered that NAPTIP has been doing a lot.
“When we have issues like this, we can easily contact NAPTIP, so if other government agencies come together to form partnership, it will strengthen the fight against human trafficking.
“If there are synergies among governmental agencies, civil societies and NAPTIP, there will be a tremendous progress in combating human trafficking,” she said.
Eze said the training was aimed at enlightening the members of the branch on the rising waves of human trafficking in the country and how to fight it.
She said the overriding objectives of FIDA was to protect the rights of children and women.
According to her, trafficking in persons is man’s inhumanity to man.
She said most cases that were handled at the legal clinic of FIDA included domestic and sexual violence which necessitated the need for the training.
ALSO READ: Painful! Lagos Hotelier Slumps, Dies During Wife’s 60th Birthday Celebration
“All these forms of violence are linked to human trafficking.
“I had the opportunity to speak with some 2015 rescued victims of human trafficking last month and I discovered that majority of them were young girls and 60 per cent of them came back with babies.
“We also discover that when these victims reunite with their families, they still face psychological problems from their family members for bringing unwanted babies home.
“So, when these victims approach us, we will know how to go about their case because we are well informed and equipped with this training,” she said.
The Chairperson Committee of the training, Mrs Caroline Ibeh, described the training as a real eye opener for FIDA members to be well informed.
Ibeh, the former Vice Chairperson of FIDA Badagry Branch, said the human trafficking was not only about prostitution and could happen anywhere.
She called on government to enforce strict laws to help curb human trafficking.
“The laws are there but are they being enforced?
“The people in high places should allow these laws to manifest because if someone who is well placed in the society involves himself or herself in this menace and he is caught, someone will come from somewhere and close the case.
“The laws are there but it is the enforceability we should be working on,” Ibeh said.
The facilitator of the training, Mr Fred Oko, while addressing the participants, said it was a criminal offence to engage a girl or boy below 12 years old as house help.
Oko, the Head of Public Enlightenment Unit, NAPTIP, Lagos Zonal Command, said Trafficking in Persons remained unknown until late 1980s.
According to him, human trafficking currently generates between $32 and $150 billion yearly with over 27 million people trafficked globally.
He identified oath taking, debt bondage, emotional abuse, lies and deception, intimidation and threats as some of the control mechanisms adopted by the traffickers.
Oko identified other forms of human trafficking as sexual exploitation, illegal adoption, forced labour, domestic servitude and forced begging.