The Women Trafficking and Child Labour Eradication Foundation has alerted Nigerians on the rising cases of organ harvest in parts of the world.
Imabong Sanusi, the Executive Director of the foundation, issued the alert in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Wednesday in Abuja.
Sanusi advised young Nigerians to avoid irregular migration in order not to fall victims of human trafficking so that they will not fall prey of the organ harvest syndicate.
She enjoined migrants to also heed to the advices and guidance of the UN International Organisation for Migration on how to avoid falling prey of the effects of irregular migration.
According to her, UN-IOM is consistently advising migrants to go through legal processes before leaving their home countries in search of so-called greener pastures. She noted that the UN-IOM is cautioning irregular migrants on the dangers of human organ harvest, slavery and sexual abuses, among others, in their quest for better life.
The executive director explained that victims of trafficking, apart from being exploited through forced labour and sexual purposes, also now risked being used for organ harvesting and ritual purposes.
She noted: “Human trafficking is evil and we can only stop it if we make an issue out of it and report suspicious movements to the authorities.
“Apart from forced labour and sexual exploitation, some Nigerians are now trafficked for organ harvesting, slave trade and for ritual purposes.
“Traffickers are wicked and callous; they make so much money by exploiting vulnerable women and children.
“We advise parents and guardians to show increased attention to the movements of their children and wards.”
She said that human traffickers now came in form of fake travel agencies promising lucrative foreign jobs or scholarships to their victims.
She noted that there were varied costs attached to various body organs in parts of the world where the trade was prominent. She urged parents and guardians to monitor the movements of their children and wards so that they do not fall victims.
She said: “A lot of people were offered jobs in parts of Europe and the Middle East but up to now their family members cannot trace their whereabouts.”
NAN recalls that the Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee of the United Nations General Assembly had approved a draft resolution on combating trafficking in human organs in November 2018.
According to the committee report, members agreed that organ trafficking was becoming more relevant due to the increase in armed conflict and migration fluxes.
Meanwhile, the WOTCLEF executive director has assured that the foundation would continue to support victims of trafficking by rescuing, rehabilitating and reintegrating them into the society.
She said that the foundation had empowered 10,960 victims of trafficking since it was founded in 1999. “We at WOTCLEF will continue to support the eradication of child trafficking and also extend support to rescued victims.
“We have what we call the `4 Rs’, which stand for Rescue, Receive, Rehabilitate and Reintegrate victims into society. Since inception in October 1999, the foundation has empowered and reintegrated 10,600 victims into the society.”
NAN also recalls that WOTCLEF was founded on October 29, 1999, by Titi Abubakar, wife of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
The UN-IOM is providing technical support services and advice concerning migration to governments and migrants, including internally displaced persons, refugees and migrant workers.
It started in 1951 as an international humanitarian organisation before it became an organ of the UN in September 2016.
The UN-IOM presented the National Migration Policy to the Government of Nigeria on June 6, 2016, as a technical advisory working document.
The policy was adopted by the Federal Executive Council on 13 May 2015, through the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons upon presentation by IOM Chief of Mission in Nigeria, Enira Krdzalic.
The NMP and its plan of action provide an appropriate legal framework for monitoring and regulating internal and international migration, proper collection and dissemination of migration data.
It also addresses issues relating to Diaspora mobilisation, border management, decent treatment of migrants, Internally Displaced Persons, asylum seekers, and the role of civil society in migration management.
Krdzalic had called for institutional collaboration, coordination and the need to put in place a taskforce and machinery to increase awareness on the policy and engage more with the government for increased financial support towards the successful implementation of the policy action plan.
She urged the government to ensure wide dissemination of the policy, as well as build synergies with other relevant institutions to establish mechanisms for smooth implementation of the policy in Nigeria.
IOM is currently providing financial and technical support to NAPTIP, NCFRMI, NEMA and SEMAs as well as the Nigeria Immigration Service to achieve their goals.
