David Olorunsogo
A Non-Government Organisation (NGO) on youth development and sustainability, Kids & Teens Resource Centre, has lamented the human traffickers‘ adoption and utilisation of modern technology in fostering the trafficking of unsuspecting victims to various parts of the world.
In a virtual lecture held by the NGO to commemorate the world day against trafficking in persons, the Executive Director of the NGO, Folashade Bamigboye berated how traffickers use social media to lure victims into their net and traffic them to foreign lands to be abused.
According to Bamigboye, one of the deceptive tactics employed by human traffickers is the presentation of unrealistic pictorial expectations through social media and the moment the victim falls for it, such a victim is doomed.
She illustrated her argument with one of the cases she handled, noting that a girl was exploited because her mother was deceived through a WhatsApp video call.
She said, “The mother of a child was on a video call with a friend and in that video call, she saw the child of her friend looking good. Deceived that the child of the friend staying in Libya lives comfortably, she offered her daughter to be taken to Libya as well. Unfortunately, the woman’s daughter was trafficked to another country.
While discussing the psychological effects of trafficking, one of the guest speakers, a Deputy Superintendent of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) who is presently serving as the Anti-human Trafficking Desk Officer of NSCDC Ondo State Command, Yemi Faboyo-Agbede explained that if the child or person that was moved from a place to another gave genuine consent and the promises made to them were fulfilled, then that is simply migration and not trafficking.
She explained, “The essential element in any case of trafficking is exploitation. Once there’s exploitation and there has been a movement from one place to another, once there’s a deceptive or coercive means that was used to obtain the consent of victims, then you can say that trafficking has occurred\”.
She stated, “There are so many side effects to a trafficking victim. The impact may be psychological. Often the victims get psychologically traumatised because it is not what they expected that they got, and as a result, they are destabilised. This, coupled with the trauma that occurs when they are moved to a new environment where language and culture are barriers, leads to a double trauma. These victims are restricted, particularly for those that travel out and those used for domestic servitude internally. They are unable to socialise and they are underpaid for the services they render. All these boil down to trauma.
“A lot of the time, there is violence. When there’s violence, it becomes the case of a prodigal son who thinks wouldn’t I be better off in my father’s house? That is usually the case for victims of trafficking. When they leave their respective homes, they had a whole lot of expectations; they expect pleasant experiences, but when these expectations are not met, this leads to trauma.
“We have had returnees who came back and had strokes. Some persons lose their organs. When they were trafficked to Libya, they were forced into prostitution and some of them would have lost their wombs. Presently, I have a case of a young girl of about 15 years old who was trafficked to Libya and in a space of two years, several men had slept with her and she had about five abortions. You can imagine a young child like that, what would she expect for the future? She has lost her womb and right to a childhood.
“Eventually, some of them will take to drugs or continue prostituting because they feel that’s the only place they feel they can fit in. Even after their return, they feel dirty and rejected.
“It takes a whole lot of psychotherapy and psychosocial support to bring them back to mental stability that will ensure they can live a normal life.”
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