Fresh moves to stop Nigerian prostitutes influx into Italy!
Written by Fred Iwenjora
Sunday, September 28, 2008

'Edo is main campaign focus'






Moves have been renewed to stop the trafficking of Nigerian women and minors to Italy and other European countries for prostitution.

SINCE it became known that several African minors and young women are victims of human trafficking, the world has become very alert to face the problem head on. Statistics show that over 80 per cent of young African women and minors who travel to Europe are going to fall into the prostitution racket.

The United Nations through its various agencies started making concerted efforts to combat human trafficking. Countries where it has become noticeable that it is being perpetrated are not also left out of the battle to stop or reduce its incidence. Reports say that the number of minors and young women who are trafficked for various reasons including for labour and prostitution have been on the increase within Nigeria, Africa and through out the globe. It is no longer strange to hear of traffickers in minors being intercepted with their victims in many countries of Africa.

In Nigeria, the police have regularly intercepted several lorries and trailers loaded with young women and children headed to unknown destinations just like the perpetrators have faced the law. Efforts by influential Nigerians like the former First Lady of Edo State, Mrs Eki Igbinedion, who set up Idia Renaissance and created skills acquisition centers for young women in the state where most of those trafficked to Italy and other Europeans cities and countries hail from.

In Italy alone, several young Africans including Nigerians are trafficked for prostitution and sundry reasons that even the Italian government has seen that the menace is assuming unprecedented heights. Some of these minors are even punished or killed if they resist the terms of agreement.

Just recently, a middle aged woman who rejected all entreaties by her elder brother to go into prostitution abroad was set ablaze somewhere in Edo State. Several measures have been taken to see that the streets of Italy and indeed other cities in Europe are rid of this menace caused by the traficking of these minors and young women just as several NGOs have been set up to counsel or rehabilitate victims. All hands seem to be on deck.

And here is where the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI), in cooperation with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), is of great assistance. It is a pilot project which its first phase came on stream from 2002-04, and now the second phase entitled, "Preventing and Combating Trafficking of Minors and Young Women from Nigeria to Italy", is starting.

To help their work there is also the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and Related Matters (NAPTIP), which was created five years ago and coordinated by Carol Ndaguba. A coalition of Nigerian NGOs has been created as well and it includes the Committee for Support of the Dignity of Women (COSUDOW), the International Reproductive Rights Research Action Group (IRRRAG), the Women Action Initiative (WAI), the Girls Power Initiative (GPI), the African Women Empowerment Guild (AWEG), and Idia Renaissance. But there are not only Nigerians working everyday on this project.

There are also Italians in the team and their duty is to have a close eye on the activities of the project, meet victims as well as vulnerable subjects and get them to talk about this issue. The reasons for Italian government's involvement may not be far fetched because Italy records a considerable population of African prostitutes than any other country. Apart from the fact that they wear the shoe and know where it pinches, so to speak, the more there is awareness on this inhuman treatments, the closer the world will be to the end of this drama.

This begs the question whether these laudable efforts would ever succeed with the harsh economic condition of the people where far much money provides for far much less, a problem occasioned by bad appropriation of state funds by leaders in Africa. With the understanding that several of the young women-victims of trafficking for prostitution in Italy and other parts of Europe come from Nigeria, an Italian young woman, Emma Eff, has a mandate to help spread the word that the story that the streets of Italy is paved with gold, which is usually spurned by mistresses who traffic in young women for prostitution purposes, is not as it seems.

She has been traversing Nigeria working with the NGOs to help nip in the bud what has become a global menace and also to help rehabilitate the victims. She is very optimistic that the battle is tasking but very possible to win.

According to her "what we do is to help reduce the trafficking in minors and young women from Nigeria to Italy for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Edo State is the main focus and we are hooked with over six NGOs and NAPTIP whose counseling and rehabilitation unit has played and will continue to play a critical role in the implementation of prevention, assistance and reintegration activities." Nigeria and indeed the world hopes that these efforts would not go in vain to put an end to one of the greatest scourges that has plagued human existence.

http://odili.net/news/source/2008/sep/28/303.html

Personally i believe parents should be the main focus and should bring up their kids with christian values. The media equally have a larger role to play in creating awareness and government should provide opportunities for Nigerians to manage their lives back at home. For a Nigerian to give up all and decide to move to cotonu or Ghana is an insult to our Nation. If a Nigerian decides to travel it should be the USA, Canada or UK where tho! one might not get all his/her rights but can get a certain form of right!
Govt needs to act fundamentally, provide electricity and good road networks and assist local farmers in the village with small loans, then ask the citizens to take advantage of the opportunities.