By Nkerunwem Cosmas
Against the background of the gruesome death of 26 Nigerian women recovered from a Spanish warship during the weekend, an NGO, the Migration Enlightenment Project Nigeria, MEPN, has urged the Federal Government to make tougher laws against human trafficking.
In a press statement signed by Mr Kenneth Gbandi, Co-Project Director and Chairman, Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation Europe and Femi Awoniyi, Co-Project Director, Berlin, Friday, the group said that the latest tragedy brings again to the fore the ongoing humanitarian crisis as they affect sub-Saharan migrants in Libya and the need to enact tougher laws against human trafficking to bring the needless deaths to an end.
While condoling with the bereaved families, they drew the “attention of government and society to the seemingly endless losses of Nigerian lives caused by irregular migration. At least 13,000 migrants, many of whom are Nigerians, have drowned while attempting the passage across the central Mediterranean since 2014, according to the UNHCR. Many more are believed to have died en route.”
The latest tragedy should wake up our governments to adopt policies to tackle the problem of human trafficking, which is being run by powerful cartels that have connections both in Nigeria and abroad. While unemployment and the desire to seek greener pastures abroad are some of the motivating factors leading young people to migrate irregularly, human traffickers, employing deception, play a major role in the ongoing crisis.
“It has therefore become important now more than ever before to curb the activities of persons engaged in the illicit irregular migration business who have lured many desperate youths into their untimely deaths.
“We note the current efforts of the Government of Edo State to legislate against human trafficking and praise Governor Godwin Obaseki for his bold initiative. However, for any laws to be effective they have to have a national jurisdiction. We therefore appeal to the National Assembly and the Federal Government to make tougher laws against human trafficking in Nigeria.
“Human traffickers, who have no regard for human life, have led too many innocent Nigerians to their untimely death. It’s time to put a stop to the activities of these criminals.”
