At least 700,000 women and children are trafficked annually across the globe with Nigeria serving as a significant source, transit and destination, the official News Agency of Nigeria reported Wednesday.
Timiebi Koripamo-Agary, permanent secretary of Nigerias Ministry of Employment, Labor and Productivity, was quoted as saying that “Nigeria has been identified as significantly significant in this trade as a source, transit and destination country.”
He said between 700.000 and 2 million women and children are trafficked worldwide each year, though much publicity have been given to issues of trafficking in women for the purpose of prostitution and children for domestic labor.
He added that existing cases of trafficked male victims in other exploitative or forced labor “may be more than what have so far been reported or estimated.”
The secretary said that investigation by the ministrys inspectorate department had shown that exploitative labor still go on in the formal sector of the economy.
He expressed concern over trafficked Nigerians working in the formal sector in the destination countries under exploitative and forced labor conditions.
In recognition of the magnitude of the problem, he said, the government had recently ratified the International Labor Organization (ILO) Conventions on forced labor, child labor and human trafficking.
– The ministry is in the process of reviewing the labor laws with a view to making them more effective, especially in line with ILO standards as it relates to fundamental principles and rights at work, he said.
According to Cornelius Dzakpasu, director of ILO representative office in Nigeria, the data collection for baseline survey was ILOs newest project designed to address the structural dimensions of the demands and supply aspect of forced labor and trafficking.
– Its goal is also to eradicate and prevent forced labor and trafficking in Nigeria and the West African sub-region in general, he said.
The project will improve the knowledge base on forced labor and trafficking in the country, mainstream the issues into the national development and poverty reduction strategies, he added.
Kilde: The Push Journal
