Activists: Human Trafficking a Danger in Nigeria

 

Activists¹ are worried about human trafficking in Nigeria’s camps for internally displaced persons.

Mitika Ali works for Nigeria’s anti-trafficking agency, known as NAPTIP. He confirmed that human trafficking is taking place at camps in Maiduguri, the largest city in Borno State.

“People come there in the evening for recruiting, I can say, taking young girls, going away with them. I see it as they are going there for sexual exploitation,” said Ali.

Ali says many women and girls living in the camps will be taken away from Borno state because of human trafficking.

Philip Obaji Jr. and Yusuf Mohammed Ciroma are activists. They started a campaign called “Up Against Trafficking” in April. The two men want the Nigerian government to know how big the problem is. They also want camps for the internally displaced to warn about the dangers of traffickers who make false promises of employment.

Ciroma told VOA, “So they will carry them out, and they will not even give them jobs. Then they will start selling them like slaves.”

He said a woman named Ya Batu Bukar told him about her experience. She said she was taken from Maiduguri to Niger, where she was left with no food or money.

Bukar told him, “I don’t want another woman here to pass through the same pain, and that is why I am part of this campaign.”

The extremist group Boko Haram formed in Maiduguri in 2002. Seven years later the group launched a war against the government. An estimated 30,000 people have been killed in the fighting.

In addition, more than two million people have left their homes to escape from Boko Haram forces. Many have come to Maiduguri to live in crowded camps.

Ali told VOA that NAPTIP’s leadership has not received official reports of trafficking in the camps. But, he said, it is done secretly.

At least 200 women have joined “Up Against Trafficking.”

Nana Abdullahi is one of them. She is an orphan². She left the city of Bama in Borno State after Boko Haram fighters entered the area.

As a 15-year-old, she sold goods on the streets of Maiduguri to earn money. One day a man said he could help her.

She thought that she would be going to a place like Kano, in northern Nigeria, to get a job. But, she told VOA, he took her to Niger.

Nigeria’s long history of human trafficking

Human trafficking is common in Nigeria, which is Africa’s most populous³ nation. Those familiar with the issue say that traffickers have tried to lure⁴ Nigerians to other countries for many years. Thousands of these people end up in European or American cities in detention⁵ centers.

In recent months, there have been reports of poor treatment of Nigerians trafficked to Libya.

Many people accuse the Nigerian government of not doing enough to stop the problem.

In 2017, a U.S. State Department report said Nigeria must do more on the issue. It said, “The government of Nigeria does not fully⁶ meet the minimum standards for the elimination⁷ of trafficking, however, it is making significant efforts to do so.”

Ali told VOA that his team is working hard.

NAPTIP officers give out information to people living in the camps, but unofficial camps are often missed.

Maryam Haruna lives in a one of the unofficial camps in Maiduguri.

The 35-year-old mother said she gave birth to two children a few years ago but did not have enough money. She said then a man offered her a job. She immediately accepted the position, although she did not know where it was.

She was then smuggled⁹ into Saudi Arabia and worked there for two years as a housekeeper¹⁰. She had to pay back her smuggler¹¹ for the trip to Saudi Arabia.

She grew used to the work and was unhappy when it ended.

“Unfortunately, one day when I was coming back from work, I got caught and deported¹³ back home,” she said.

Haruna said she wants to go back because life there as an illegal immigrant was better than life living as a displaced person in Nigeria.

I’m Mario Ritter.

Words in This Story

recruit – v. to persuade on get someone to join some activity

exploitation – n. to use someone or something in a way the helps you unfairly

orphan – n. a child whose parents are dead

lure – v. to get someone to go somewhere or do something by offering something that they want

deport¹² – v. to expel

smuggle⁸ – v. to secretly transport

significant – adj. major

minimum – adj. the lowest amount or number permitted

elimination – n. the act of ending something

internally – adj. involving the inside of something

1 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 orphan   

n.孤儿；adj.无父母的

参考例句：

• He brought up the orphan and passed onto him his knowledge of medicine.他把一个孤儿养大，并且把自己的医术传给了他。
• The orphan had been reared in a convent by some good sisters.这个孤儿在一所修道院里被几个好心的修女带大。

3 populous   

adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的

参考例句：

• London is the most populous area of Britain.伦敦是英国人口最稠密的地区。
• China is the most populous developing country in the world.中国是世界上人口最多的发展中国家。

4 lure   

n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引

参考例句：

• Life in big cities is a lure for many country boys.大城市的生活吸引着许多乡下小伙子。
• He couldn't resist the lure of money.他不能抵制金钱的诱惑。

5 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

6 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

7 elimination   

n.排除，消除，消灭

参考例句：

• Their elimination from the competition was a great surprise.他们在比赛中遭到淘汰是个很大的意外。
• I was eliminated from the 400 metres in the semi-finals.我在400米半决赛中被淘汰。

8 smuggle   

vt.私运；vi.走私

参考例句：

• Friends managed to smuggle him secretly out of the country.朋友们想方设法将他秘密送出国了。
• She has managed to smuggle out the antiques without getting caught.她成功将古董走私出境，没有被逮捕。

9 smuggled   

水货

参考例句：

• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Those smuggled goods have been detained by the port office. 那些走私货物被港务局扣押了。 来自互联网

10 housekeeper   

n.管理家务的主妇，女管家

参考例句：

• A spotless stove told us that his mother is a diligent housekeeper.炉子清洁无瑕就表明他母亲是个勤劳的主妇。
• She is an economical housekeeper and feeds her family cheaply.她节约持家，一家人吃得很省。

11 smuggler   

n.走私者

参考例句：

• The smuggler is in prison tonight, awaiting extradition to Britain. 这名走私犯今晚在监狱，等待引渡到英国。
• The smuggler was finally obliged to inform against his boss. 那个走私犯最后不得不告发他的首领。

12 deport   

vt.驱逐出境

参考例句：

• We deport aliens who slip across our borders.我们把偷渡入境的外国人驱逐出境。
• More than 240 England football fans are being deported from Italy following riots last night.昨晚的骚乱发生后有240多名英格兰球迷被驱逐出意大利。

13 deported   

v.将…驱逐出境( deport的过去式和过去分词 )；举止

参考例句：

• They stripped me of my citizenship and deported me. 他们剥夺我的公民资格，将我驱逐出境。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The convicts were deported to a deserted island. 罪犯们被流放到一个荒岛。 来自《简明英汉词典》