As part of the events by the Boy’s Brigade, Ika Battalion to mark its Founder’s Day, Sir Williams Alexander Smith, a seasoned Public Speaker, Analyst and Human Right Activist, Comr. Geoffrey Uti has on Sunday, October 14, 2018 at St. Peter’s Anglican Church, Boji-Boji Owa in Ika North East LGA of Delta State, in line with the mandate of the Delta State Government, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Traditional Rulers Council and Onu-Ika Nigeria to completely eradicate human trafficking, illegal migration which has led to the mass exodus of youths en route the Mediterranean Sea to European countries in search of greener pastures and other related vices, embarked on a sensitization of Ika people on its dangers.
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The current ranking of Human Trafficking in Nigeria shows that Kano State ranks 1st, Edo State ranks 2nd and Delta State ranking 3rd. In Delta State, the ranking placed Ika South at 1st position, Ika North East 2nd and Aniocha North rating 3rd.
Comr. Uti stated that the sensitization was borne out of the predicaments Nigerians youths pass through in search of green pastures abroad, plying the desert in overcrowded Hilux van that was meant to convey a few people carrying over 250persons, saying that in the cause of enduring the hardship of hunger and starvation in the desert, opt to leveraging on their urine for survival. He stated that those who survived the starvation to Libya were at the mercy of “Burgers” and the Libyans who maltreat them to extort money from their parents while the females among them are subjected to sexual exploitation, adding that after much suffering in Libya, they risk their life through the Mediterranean Sea which in the process, some lives are lost while those who were able to make it to Italy are subjected to hardship in the camp to earn a living.
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He advised parents to desist from promoting Human Trafficking, emphasizing that in as much as they lose properties and resources which they sell to send their children through the heartrending journey, human resources eludes the nation en masse.
Continuing, Comr. Uti emphasized that Human Trafficking ranges from different stages of human labour, modern slavery, prostitution and illegal migration, stressing that most children and young female youths are being taken from the comfort of their homes into slavery with the promise of being given sound care and quality education. He warned that parents should be careful in giving out their children because of flimsy promises of care and education. Comr. Uti further warned those engaged in such practices to desist from it.
Concluding, Comr. Uti said anyone with knowledge of any form of human trafficking should not hesitate to report to the designated bodies stated