THE SCOURGE OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING

By Emmanuel Onwubiko

[b]Looking terrified and over burdened by worries of everyday existence in an increasingly impoverished neighborhood of an outskirt of the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria, Chinedu, who is in his early twenties, walked straight to me as I disembarked from my weather beaten car which I bought from my salaries as a reporter with the Guardian Newspaper some years back. He battled to put up a smile but from the abundance of existential evidence, Chinedu’s smiles appeared artificial and made up.



As I equally battled to reciprocate Chinedu’s compulsive smiles and greetings, I quickly covered my nostrils in a reflective action to wade off the putrefying stench that was unleashed or rather oozed out from a nearby, heavily, dilapidated drainage system, and he quickly offered me a white handkerchief that looked like the snuff ridden rag of my Octogenarian grand father in my remote, heavily impoverished and grossly underdeveloped village of Ndiuche Etiti in Arondizuogu, Onu Imo Local Government Area of Imo State. Chinedu was a bosom friend of one of my close relations who strayed away to one of those Asian countries and is said to be hovering between the devil and the deep blue sea, because of the fact that he is a victim of some rogues who promised to hook him up to a University of his choice for his post-graduate studies, even as they promised him good placement in an upwardly mobile firm where he could be making handsome ends-meet, while undertaking his studies. This relation of mine had sweet-mouthed me into parting with a little over a hundred thousand Naira to make up for his school fees in this “God Knows” Asian country, from where he has persistently called home for assistance to repatriate himself back.

Chinedu asked me profusely about this his classmate and how he is faring in his country of abode, and I replied that he is not doing so well, and that in fact, he had sent word home that he is in desperate need of some financial bail-out to enable him purchase a flight ticket back to Nigeria where at least he is assured of a square meal per day. Chinedu wept. Wiping his face of the stream of tears that rolled down generously from his red eye-balls, Chinedu could barely speak out audibly, but still managed to say something like, “that is the same issue I want to table before you as a Human Rights Activist”. I almost gave up cheaply to the strong passion and temptation to shed out tears, but I fought it gloriously. We both managed to find a big mango tree under which we sat and shared the pathetic story of Miss. Patience, an eighteen year old girlfriend of Chinedu who hails from Kaduna State and was deceived by a friend to travel to Europe, through Libya, in search of the proverbial “greener pastures”. So what about that? I retorted. Chinedu then began to reel out the story of the systematic enslavement and minefield of labour camp that Miss. Patience is currently trapped, in a distant location, far away from the Libyan capital of Tripoli. Please how can the Human Rights Writers’ Association of Nigeria help to draw the attention of the Government to the plight of Miss. Patience and several hundreds of others who cannot be freed until they pay ransoms to their captors? Chinedu stated huskily with a tinge of emphasis and in a voice laced with passion he narrated how Patience called him to demand that he wire her the sum of Ten Thousand United Kingdom pounds Sterling so as to enable her buy her freedom from the kingpins who in the first place had smuggled her into Libya with the diabolical mandate of subjecting her to commit petty crimes of prostitution and pick-pocket. It was precisely because she refused to carry out her “god-fathers mandate” that they resorted in confining her in a prison-like and fortified building and she was permitted to make a long distance call home to blackmail her impoverished relations into parting with the huge ransom. Unfortunately for her, the parents are too poor to raise even a hundred Pounds.

Chinedu who doubles as a barber at a saloon somewhere in the suburbs of Karimo, a settlement not too far away from the city center, confessed to me that he made several attempts to gather the said Ten Thousand United Kingdom’s Pound Sterling but that even when he sold his landed property, which he inherited from his late father, he could not still raise the scandalous amount. Promising him that our Human Rights Platform will wage a big advocacy campaign against human trafficking in the coming days, I headed back to my car and drove off to town. But as tradition demands, I often play one of the many radio stations while driving, and from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) radio service came a mind shattering breaking news on March 31 st, 2009 that hundreds of immigrants perished on their way from Libya into Europe.

The British Broadcasting Corporation had told her audience that hundreds of suspected illegal migrants headed for Europe are feared dead in Libya. These migrants’ pass through Libya to Enter Europe by sea, in search of greener pastures every year, using vehicles which are often not sea-worthy. The Libya officials, that the BBC spoke to said that at least 21 people died and 20 others rescued, after a boat carrying 250 people sank.

The BBC says that The International Organization of Migrants fear that about 500 migrants from 3 other boats may also be missing. They say that the chances of rescuing some of these people are very slim and if they succeed at all, they would be faced with lots of casualties.

The bad news continues that, the boat carrying 250 people was said to have sunk about 30km (99 miles) off the Libyan coast, near Libya’s capital, Tripoli. The migrants on the boat included, some Tunisians, Palestinians, and Egyptians who are said to be constantly migrating from their country to find ‘greener pastures’ in Europe, and others whose Nationalities are yet to be discovered. Among the migrants found, was a dead African woman, clutching her dead infant to her bosom.

The BBC also stated that there is an unconfirmed report, that another boat boarding 342 migrants also sunk after leaving Libya, a Libyan official told the BBC that these two boats sank within two days, and that rescue operations were still on.

Worried by the monumental and devastating consequences of trafficking in persons or what in French my office Secretary, Phyllis Idara Godswill, told me is called, “la traffique humaine”, the Human Rights Writers’ Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, recently organized a public lecture in Abuja, and invited Governor Liyel Imoke of Cross River State, who delivered a lecture titled; “HUMAN TRAFFICKING AS A THREAT TO THE ACTUALIZATION OF GOOD GOVERNANCE AND DURABLE DEMOCRACY IN NIGERIA: WAYS, MEANS AND STRATEGIES FOR CHECKING THE TREND.” To underscore the importance of the lecture, the hall was packed full with Nigerians and foreign dignitaries who turned out to hear from the speakers.

Imoke told his audience, including the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Archbishop John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan, that; “it is obvious that Human Trafficking is a clear and blatant violation of the Human Rights of its victims. However, what are the implications of this on the course of democracy and good governance in Nigeria and what can be done to mitigate its effects?”

He said that; “it is important to remind ourselves that Human Trafficking is an abhorrent act of modern day slavery. Human trafficking by definition denotes that people are forced, tricked or threatened into situations in which they are exploited either sexually, financially, or through forced labor. Human beings, who are reduced to commodities for sale by traffickers, are not only deprived of their free-will but equally denied the opportunity to develop the life-skills and competencies that enable them to make meaningful contributions to society.”

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According to the Governor; “Nigeria is a signatory to many Human Rights conventions including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which was proclaimed in 1948 by the United Nations General Assembly. Although the implementation of these agreements and the protection of these rights have been less than perfect, the Nigerian Constitution has incorporated some of the Human Rights which are considered inalienable in the general provisions. It is perhaps pertinent to briefly mention some of the Articles in the declaration of Human Rights which are relevant to this discussion. They include the following:

ARTICLE 1, which states that; “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity of rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in the spirit of brotherhood;”
ARTICLE 3, which provides that; “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person;”
ARTICLE 4, which emphasized that; “No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all forms;” and
ARTICLE 5, which clearly stressed that; “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel inhuman or degrading treatment.”
Imoke, who is a Lawyer of many years standing, emphasized that, “Human trafficking must be recognized as an abominable act which constitutes a hindrance to the nation’s progress. It is an insult to our collective psyche and above all, an affront on civilized society…” he said.

As a politician, daily involved in the affairs of governance, Imoke suggested some strategies to check the trend, even as he reminded the audience that; “We have to confront the problem head-on with all at our disposal. However, we must also not neglect to address the root of this morally reprehensible act. Our approach has to be communal, driven by the people but supported by a firm government’s commitment to eradicate this social ill. We all have to play our part. Human traffickers live with us and can be identified, if we are more alert and determined to put an end to this attack on the development of our society.”

Imoke challenged Nigerians thus; “we have to embark on a substantive re-calibration of the value set of the members of our society, both old and young. The prevailing and unique difficulties of our economic climate as well as the rising tide of desire for material wealth at all cost have caused vast swathes of people to abandon moral rectitude in favor of short-term financial gain at great cost to society.” [/b] “It is widely acknowledged that the challenges of life are becoming increasingly more burdensome but that is no justification. We must all work hard to reengineer our collective psyche. The less we value our fellow human beings, the more we erode our social capital which is the very foundation of civilized society.”

We must collectively fight the scourge of trafficking in persons before more damages are unleashed on our polity. We cannot rebrand Nigeria if the political leadership cannot address issues of poverty and unemployment, which are the main reasons for the increasing wave of Human Trafficking in Nigeria of the Twenty First Century.

Onwubiko heads the Human Rights Writers’ Association of Nigeria.


 
 

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