Human Trafficking

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Hey guys, how are you all doing? I hope much better than I am now. While going through one of my favorite blogs; www.kemifilani.com, I came across a post on human trafficking. It wasn’t the same old sermon about human trafficking, warnings on prostitution and all that. A very brave journalist;  Tobore Ovuorie set out on an undercover mission to expose the top goons of the “Human Trafficking Committee”. Her discoveries just made me sad, really. I hear about it and I have probably watched it in movies (or maybe made movies in my head of the stories I was told, it’s hard to discern).  Anyway, I don’t know what exactly about hers made me feel it more, but I did.

I think you all should read it here while I attempt to discuss what bothers me most about the whole thing. First, is there really hope for Nigeria? The way we kill ourselves is just so weakening. It’s hard to believe in a nation who seems to have corruption in its blood streams. I say this with so much pain because I’m one of those who feel like I can’t live anywhere else but here, I don’t mean I can’t survive a few months or years outside, I mean like really live and raise a family. The way I feel right now can be likened to a parent who is yet again disappointed by her child whom she keeps trusting, having faith in and believing will change, but who always lets her down. I say this because from Tobore’s discoveries, the entire system supports these traffickers. The police, army, the customs office and top politicians all have a hand in this. They are actually their covers. This is to say, there is little or no hope for those who want to escape.

The post relays that most of these girls being trafficked are usually taken voluntarily. They are usually “local” call girls already and seek for some sort of promotion in the business, some others are just “lucky” to “hit it big” from the start. Now, I don’t know which bothers me more, my nation’s lapses or these girls who should know better. What sort of brainwash would make a woman risk her life for a dirty job as that to seek “a better life”. What better life is there when you lose all of you? They work for years to pay back “debts” (what the traffickers invest in them in terms of training and clothing; basically rebranding to become suitable for their customers)to the traffickers before they can start working for themselves. Don’t be mistaken, these debts go up to $100,000, maybe even more.  So, a lady will knowingly, consciously, subject her body to slavery for years, during which she may be murdered or contract deadly diseases. How does this make sense? What sort of life can you live after this? Do you have dreams to one day become rich, married, a mother? Can you automatically wipe away all of the mental sickness inflicted from this experience?

Arguments may arise on the level of poverty in the nation being the push for this. My sisters, aren’t there others out there financially worse than you are struggling other ways and surviving? Do you not want to live to tell your struggle stories? How long will you live with the brutality or the diseases? Are you even sure you won’t be the next ritual ingredient? Please, I beg you, save yourself all of these troubles. I don’t know what we can do to curb this. The web of connections involved in this whole thing is so large that any attempts to save the situation seem futile. Are we then to lose hope? I feel the best we can do for now is to educate these young ladies, really give them knowledge of the dangers involved and of course reduce unemployment. The saddest aspect of everything to me is the fact that many already know all there is to know and still gallantly walk into the death trap. I can’t understand it, but what can anyone do for such a soul but pray?

I don’t know if Tobore’s risky mission was able to accomplish what she had in mind. I don’t know if the people she wanted to expose have been exposed and arrested, though I doubt this very much, but I want to congratulate her on her brave act. It takes a really strong woman to do that and I hope she’s safe and well.

Over to you guys, what’s your take on this? Any experiences, direct or indirect? Please share…