Benson-Idahosa Decries Trafficking Rate In Nigeria

The Founder of Pathfinders Justice Initiative, Evon Benson-Idahosa, has expressed her dismay over the high rate of trafficking of persons from the country.

Speaking at The Platform in Lagos, a programme organised by the Covenant Christian Centre yearly to mark Nigeria’s 58th Independence, she said Nigeria is considered as a human transit destination country when it comes to human trafficking.

Evon Benson-Idahosa revealed, according to a report that most Nigerians have been victims of human trafficking, with over a million Nigerians within the country also used as slaves, the reason why the nation is reportedly placed 32nd in a trafficking survey of 157 countries.

“According to the latest report, Nigeria is ranked 32nd out of 157 countries that we recently assessed. It is believed that Nigeria has 1.38 million slaves within the country. I believe that number is considerably higher.

“But what we are most infamously known for is the sexual trafficking of our women out of Nigeria into Europe,” she stated.

Her comments come six months after the Federal Government made efforts to evacuate trapped Nigerians from Libya, since the outbreak of the illegal migration that has sparked a global reaction.

A data from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) showed a breakdown of the figures in batches as obtained by Channels Television in February this year.

In the first batch of Nigerian returnees, 488 comprising 395 males, 88 females and five children arrived from the troubled North African country where they were subjected to dehumanizing conditions referred to as modern slavery.

It was observed that Edo State topped the list with 273 males, 65 females and two children while Bayelsa, Benue, Kano and Nassarawa States, on the other hand, had the least representation with just one male. Kogi and Ondo states similarly had just one female representation each.