Posted by By Margaret Odeyemi on
WOMEN's Consortium of Nigeria (WOCON ), a non governmental organisation has adjudged Lagos State as the primary transit, destination and sources location for human trafficking especially that of women and children.
LAGOS - WOMEN's Consortium of Nigeria (WOCON ), a non governmental organisation has adjudged Lagos State as the primary transit, destination and sources location for human trafficking especially that of women and children.
Addressing newsmen at a media chat to kick off a three day sensitisation and training project for Women and Children in Lagos yesterday, Executive Director of WOCON Mrs Bisi Olagbegi said, "Lagos, I must say is particularly notorious for receiving women and children from other states in the Federation as well as from neighbouring African countries like Benin, Togo, and Ghana."
According to her, "this press conference is to kick start the part of our project on the sensitisation of rural communities for the prevention of Human Trafficking with the support of the United States (UN) Ambassador self help fund. Our presence in Lagos today marks the last leg in our tri-state sensitisation campaign. We started in Ebonyi, and then traveled to Ogun and now the journey ends in Lagos with a series of activities lined up in the next three days."
"This year WOCON is celebrating its 10th year anniversary and during those 10 years of service we have continuous endeavoured to increase public awareness on this important issue, especially for women and children whom are the principal victims. Lagos I must say is particularly notorious for receiving women and children from other states in the federation as well as from neighbouring African countries like Benin, Togo and Ghana.
In fact, many of the women and children you find in all classes of homes working as domestics or who carry your heavy loads in the markets and sell you pure water on the streets are actually victims of trafficking"
She said, "more recently our government in Lagos discovered that many of the beggars on the streets are trafficked persons from other states who have to handover money received from sympathetic Nigerians to their traffickers daily. In effect the traffickers capitalise on their physical disability and vulnerability to subject them to the degradation of begging while the traffickers are the real beneficiaries of their toils in the scorching sun or under the heavy rains in inhuman conditions."