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| NAPTIP BOSS, JULIE OKAH-DONLI |
The National Agency for the Prohibition of
Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), yesterday, decries the news of the death of 26
Nigerian girls while crossing the Mediterranean Sea to Italy.
The 26 girls were among 375 migrants said to be
aboard a Spanish Warship, Cantabria, which docked at the port in the southern
Italian city of Salerno.
The Head, Press and Public Relations, NAPTIP, Josiah
Emerole said: “ The Director-General of NAPTIP, Dame Julie Okah-Donli and the
entire management are saddened by this unfortunate occurrence which has cut
short the lives of the young women in their prime and in very painful and
suspicious circumstances. The deaths are untimely and unwarranted.”
According to Emerole, what happened was one of the
negative effects of embarking on desperate, dangerous and illegal journeys in
the guise of seeking for greener pastures abroad.
He noted that in the past few years, the Agency had
mounted awareness campaigns against human trafficking and illegal migration and
had consistently persuaded fellow citizens to resist any temptation of
embarking on such dangerous and life threatening journeys through the desert
and the Mediterranean Sea, which could end up in organ harvesting, forced
prostitution, domestic servitude, forced begging and death.
The image maker further said: “While praying for the
repose of the souls of the departed, we all should learn lessons from this
unfortunate occurrence and join hands with NAPTIP to stop human trafficking and
irregular migrations from our country. We are using this medium to once again
call for a high level investigation by the United Nations on this incident and
others before it along the Mediterranean region. This death is one too many. We
need to know the identities of the owners of the rickety boats that carry
people along that axis as well as their owners, so that they could be
prosecuted appropriately
“For us as an Agency, we will engage with the
Italian authorities on this, with a view to knowing the Nigerians identified to
be involved in trafficking our people through this dangerous route to apply the
laws against them. We reiterate that human trafficking and irregular migration
are criminal activities that must be stopped. We need the collaboration of all
Nigerians to end this. Our young people must resist the lure to undertake such
treacherous journeys, as thousands of Nigerians have perished while trying to
cross the Mediterranean Sea.”
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