A fresh exposé by the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons that human trafficking in Nigeria and West Africa has become the largest criminal enterprise despite sustained efforts to curb it, exposes the ogre haunting humanity. It is thus mandatory and pressing for governments at all levels and the citizenry to join forces in checking the dark business of buying and selling people for even darker purposes. Human trafficking includes the use of force, fraud, or coercion to subject a victim to labour or commercial sex.

Though the NAPTIP boss said that the agency was stepping up its efforts by applying a 24-hour all-hands-on-deck approach to all cases of trafficking in persons, it is safe to say that it needs to intensify efforts to achieve its goals.

The Director-General of NAPTIP, Fatima Waziri-Azi, spoke recently in Abuja at the grand finale/award and speech-making day organised by the Action Against Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants in Nigeria to celebrate the European Union’s Anti-Trafficking Day 2021. She noted that human trafficking was not a problem but a crisis, noting that empirical evidence showed that it had become the third-largest criminal enterprise globally and second among transnational organised crimes, despite sustained efforts by world governments and the international community.

It is cheering that the agency is aware of the enormity of the task at hand when the DG stated that there could be no graver violation of human rights and fundamental freedom than the trafficking of human beings, whether for sexual exploitation, forced labour, domestic servitude, or other contemporary forms of exploitation. She declared that the crime must be jointly fought, and efforts scaled using more evidence-based sophisticated and strategic measures.

A February 2021 report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in collaboration with NAPTIP on the key findings of UNODC Fifth Global Report on Trafficking in Persons indicated that children represented more than 75 per cent of trafficking victims detected in West Africa. The report covered 148 countries and more than 95 per cent of the world’s population, using chiefly official statistics on trafficking cases between 2016 and 2019. It showed that countries in West Africa tended to detect more victims than other countries in sub-Saharan Africa, mostly children, for forced labour. Out of 4,799 victims detected in 26 sub-Saharan Africa countries, 3,336 were in West Africa, including 2,553 children. The report further suggested that about 80 per cent of victims in West Africa were trafficked for forced labour, regarded as the major form of exploitation in the region.

The cartels of human traffickers continue to change tactics and explore countermeasures to flourish in their anti-human enterprise. This asserts why efforts must be sustained to turn the tide against them to restore dignity to humanity. In a 2014 report, the International Labour Organisation distressingly revealed that human trafficking generated profits of roughly $150 billion a year for traffickers. It indicated the breakdown of profits by sector thus: $99 billion from commercial sexual exploitation, $9 billion in agriculture, including forestry and fishing, $34 billion in construction, manufacturing, mining and utilities and $8 billion saved yearly by private households that employ domestic workers for forced labour.

The ILO’s statistics are heartrending and disconcerting: in 2016, about 40.3 million people were trapped in modern slavery, including 24.9 million in forced labour and 15.4 million in forced marriage.

The networks of human traffickers are known to be watertight. Hence, Nigeria should maintain a cross-national alliance and share intelligence with other countries to counter-trafficking measures. This step paid off in the past and should be unremitting.

In August 2021, the Nigerian police arrested two human traffickers and rescued 10 Nigerian girls about to be airlifted from Cotonou, Republic of Benin, to the United Arab Emirates. The police got an intelligence report from a non-governmental organisation with support from the country and later handed the girls over to NAPTIP.

The syndicate was reportedly based in Dubai, with some of its agents in Nigeria and Cotonou. Faith-based organisations should partner with the National Orientation Agency in the advocacy and enlightenment drive for youths and be fully involved in efforts by governments to expose the dangers of human trafficking. Activities of the Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission amid the country’s inept missions and embassies are commendable. But it should rally more stakeholders to contribute its quota to ameliorating plights of Nigerians in distress overseas.

Governments across the states should inspire hope and purposely project quality governance to lift the many talented but deprived Nigerians of the precipice of misery to the pinnacle of hope. Nigerians rescued from forced or sex labour abroad and those tricked into either with incredible offers should be assisted by the federal and relevant state governments to seamlessly integrate into society. They should be considerably supported to cope with the overwhelming psychological effects of trafficking, including shame and depression.

The government should help them to take a shot at life after the horrible episodes. Existing law against traffickers should be strengthened and heavy punishments meted out to traffickers upon their prosecution to deter aspiring ones dreaming of trafficking as a gold mine.

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