* says 54% of girls trafficked are below 24, 84% for sexual exploitation
The acting Country Director of Plan International, Dr Orji Ogbureke, on Thursday said 98 percent of trafficked persons in Nigeria were within the country while only two percent is trafficked outside of the country.
He stated this at the launch of a report titled “The Trafficking of Girls and Young Women in Nigeria.”
The report reveals that 51 percent of girls trafficked in Nigeria are younger than 24 years and 84 percent are trafficked for purpose of sexual exploitation.
Dr Ogbureke who expressed worry over the rising human trafficking in Nigeria especially among adolescent girls said “Nigeria remains a source, transit and destination country for human trafficking.”
Daily Trust reports that the report launched today was extracted from a research titled: “The trafficking of girls and young women: Evidence for prevention and assistance.”
The overall research presents original data collected by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) on the trafficking of girls and young women upto the age of 24 in Nigeria, Nepal and Uganda.
He noted that human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery involving the illegal trade of people for exploitation or commercial gains, saying, “Estimates released by Global Slavery Index in July 2018 indicates there are 40.3 million victims of modern slavery worldwide, 71 percent of whom are women and girls and 25 percent of which are children.”
“The images in the news on lives lost on the Mediterranean seas, horrendous stories of crime against humanity in Libya, horrific details of experiences and deaths of young people crossing the deserts and most dehumanising stories of sex slaves across Europe, Asia and the Americas are evidences of the need to act now.
“Apart from the trans-Saharan trafficking to Europe, most of trafficking are done within Nigeria. Moving young girls from village to cities with mouth-watering offers of job only to be used as sex slave is nothing but trafficking.
“Ninety-nine percent of girls trafficked is for sexual exploitation. Others are for trade and labour,” Dr Ogbureke said.
Giving insight into the report, the Policy, Research and Influencing Manager at Plan International, Tunde Aremu, said the launch of the Nigeria part of the report was aimed at having a conversation that will contribute to the elimination of human trafficking especially girls.
“Today’s launch is part of our commitment to transform power relations in favour of girls in Nigeria,” he said.
