Over 20,000 Trafficked Nigerian Girls Stranded in Mali- Edo NAPTIP Boss

Hendrix Oliomogbe

Over 20,000 trafficked Nigerians young girls and boys, particularly girls are currently stranded in Mali, the Edo State Zonal Commander of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Mr. Nduka Nwawene has disclosed.

Nwawenne who spoke Sunday in Benin during the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons lamented that Mali used to be a destination for so many trafficked victims from the Benin Zone, adding that Malians are now being trafficked to the Edo State capital of Nigeria.

He said: "We just gathered intelligence that victims are now being trafficked from Mali to Benin City. We are currently investigating. Over 20,000 Nigerians young girls and boys, particularly girls are currently stranded in Mali. Mali used to be a destination for so many trafficked victims from this command but the Malians are now coming.

"We have heard stories of Malian men who are ready to do whatever they can do to meet Nigerian girls but now the reverse is the case. A victim had once confessed that they earned more money going  to Mali."

At the event which was organized by NAPTIP Edo Command in collaboration with the International Organisation for Migration, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and other stakeholders. the zonal commander who spoke after a road walk through some major roads in Benin, cried that in the midst of the escalating trafficking issues, global national responses, particularly in developing States, appeared to be deteriorating. 

He said: "Detection rates fell by 11% in 2020 and convictions plummeted by 27%, illustrating a worldwide slowdown in the criminal justice response to trafficking."

        NAPTIP Road Walk in Benin

Nwawenne urged stakeholders to collaborate more in awareness raising and striving to promote community ownership of anti-human trafficking drives. 

The Edo Chairperson, Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD), Ms Ann Ojugo said that the association would continue to partner NAPTIP in the fight against trafficking.

Ojugo said that more Persons with Disabilities (PWDS), were becoming victims of trafficking and exploitation due to their specific nature of not having easy access to information.

He said: "Most of the broadcast stations don't use sign language interpreters to present issues of national interest, so if a deaf person is watching a programme on human trafficking,  he or she can not understand.

"People traffic PWDs from rural areas to the cities for exploration. You see some of them in the motor parks begging for money. Some PWDs in Nigeria are promised greener pasture abroad but they end up being duped and exploited."