The Network of Civil Society Organisations against Child trafficking, abuse and labour (NACTAL), has lamented the increasing rate of human trafficking, baby factories and sales in Anambra State.
The group on Thursday, held an “Awareness Walk” as part of its activities against Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants (A-TIPSOM).
Some of the playcards inscriptions displayed by the members of the group reads; “Stop Human Trafficking”, “Say No to Irregular Migration”, “Stop Baby Factory, Baby Sales”, “Report Human Traffickers”, “Human Trafficking is a Crime against Humanity”, among others.
Speaking at the event, Ms Eucharia Onyemobi, Anambra State, Coordinator for NACTAL, described the increasing wave of trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants, as a modern day slavery.
According to her, such criminal act diminishes human dignity and makes victims a mere objects for financial and other gratifications.
“In recent time, the trend and patterns of traffickers have continued to change and research has shown that traffickers and smugglers have many recruitment centres within the South East – Anambra, Imo, and Ebonyi States are some hotspot areas.
“Worthy of concern is the drastic increase in the phenomenon of ‘Baby Factory’ and ‘Baby Sales’ in some parts of the South East, including Anambra State.
“This trend is leading young girls to be mobilised into the trafficking cycle and giving birth to children who are sold in the black markets to unknown persons for criminal, abusive purposes and sexual exploitation.
“We are having this awareness walk because we believe that without sensitisation, it will be hard to combat this menace in our society,” she said.
Onyemobi identified secessioninst agitations and unknown social, political, economic or cultural reasons as factors that predisposed people to trafficking in Nigeria and South East in particular.
She also identified decay in public institutions, rural-urban migration, poor governance, corruption, changes in family size, low level of education and poor economic status of families as other factors that predispose people to trafficking.
On his own, Senior Project Officer, A-TIPSOM- Nigeria/FIIAPP), Mr. Joseph Sanwo, said it was supporting NACTAL to intensify sensitisation towards identification, tracking, report, eventual arrest and prosecution of traffickers and their syndicates at the community levels.
The programme is supported and funded by the European Union, the International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policies (FIIAPP).
