Thousands of Nigerian girls go to Saudi Arabia on wrong information and false assurances only to be subjected to inhumane treatment.
The Africa Today Podcast by the BBC has highlighted the exploitation of young Nigerian women in Saudi Arabia.
Hosted by Audrey Brown and released on Friday, August 10, 2018, the podcast shares testimonies of Nigerian girls being subjected to degrading treatment in a place where they have no choice.
The National Agency for Prohibiting Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) visited to Saudi Arabia to document the problem.
The Problem
The BBC documents Dame Julie Okah-Donli, the Director-General of NAPTIP, saying, “A lot of evil things are happening to our girls in Saudi Arabia. We’ve had reasons to speak to some of them who are still stuck in Saudi. We’ve been able to rescue about two of them and there are still many more still stranded in Saudi.
On the crux of the matter, she continues, “Cases of sexual abuse, forced domestic labour for about 18 hours-a-day, very poor hygienic conditions, feeding and the beating and, psychological trauma; things like that”
The organized crime in recruitment
During NAPTIP’s visit to Saudi Arabia, they spoke to over 50 Nigerian girls, but they discovered there are over thousands of them enduring similar fates. Apparently, the style is that travel agents recruit them and then ‘advertise’ them on the internet, in a ‘modern day slavery’ type of way.
Dame Okah-Donli herself likened the style to organized crime. After her interviewer asks her how the girls get to Saudi Arabia, she says, “It’s like organized crime. Working in collaboration with the ‘madames’ and the ‘ogas’, get their tickets for them, get their passports for them and come up with some fake packages of work in Saudi and get these girls to sign their lives away and they get taken out of the country.”
Apparently, these girls also sign two year contracts where these agents get payment from ‘the buyers’ upfront.
ALSO READ: 13 victims rescued by NAPTIP from Abuja hotel
What is organized crime?
This is basically a syndicated organization where crime is the primary means of revenue generation. It is organized because each of these organizations have rules, styles, modes of operation and hierarchies of power.
They also work in tandem with other syndicates and revenues are split in organized manners. Of course, they double cross and betray each other, but they are more organized than petty thieves and are much worse.
Sources of income include gambling, counterfeiting, human trafficking, bootlegging, prostitution, arms dealing, drugs and other vices.
While it is unclear, the organizations that engage in the trading of Nigerian girls to Saudi Arabia, are not quite dissimilar to the human trafficking antics of crime syndicates like the Bratva of Eastern Europe, the Yakuza of Japan and the Triad of China.
These organizations are however more aggressive. Some of them kidnap these girls.
Human trafficking has long been an issue in Nigeria. In the 90s, it usually came with forced labour, usage as drug mules and sometimes, prostitution — although, sometimes, some of these girls chose prostitution.
Misconception where it matters
When asked why those girls were constantly falling victim to human traffickers, Dame Okah-Donli says, “the girls are being trafficked because they are being tricked, to put it straight to you. They are being deceived by these fraudulent guys who take advantage of the fact that most of them are vulnerable, most of them are brought from the rural areas and they are ignorant; some of them don’t have jobs.”
She continues by illuminating on the issue of elevated promises of false dawns. While that is a problem, it is not the real problem. Most Nigerians want to ‘travel out’ — they see it as the ultimate dream, but desperation is written over the reason some of these girls accept these jobs. Otherwise, why would you think tickets and passports are free?
The real problem is why these girls are desperate; the slight promise of a better life. A life their government continually fails guarantee them. We can visit the issue as much as we want, but the problem isn’t going away till these girls have something good to hold on to in their respective locales; social amenities, education, shelter, employment opportunities and so forth.
ALSO READ: Would prostitution ever be legal in Nigeria?
The Solution
‘The Nigerian Dream’ is still of elusive definition, but most millennials would agree that it somehow involves taking abode in western colonies. While people of the lower middle class to the lower class in the Nigerian social hierarchy are more susceptible to falling victim to human trafficking tactics, ‘The Nigerian dream’ is a widely accepted millennial reality.
Again, almost everyone wants to ‘travel out’. It is why even that upper middle class child who studied in England feels special and wants to go back — he knows he can boast of what everyone wants, but only a few have.
The problem though is how to shelve the tendency of the lower middle class to lower class Nigerians from constantly falling victim to human traffickers and frankly, it’s not a good look and it seems the people in power have a wrong idea.
Granted, it is not a day’s job, but the pragmatic process should start by first identifying the fundamental problem; the continued failure of people charged with responsibilities to secure these girls.
Yes, even with provision of basic amenities in a Utopian society, there will always be victims, but at this time, incredible reduction in the alarming rates of human trafficking leading to exploitation and degrading treatment in a place where choices are few will represent a significant win. Dame Okah-Donli thinks spreading awareness is sufficient work by NAPTIP and that is not good enough.
Spreading awareness will not feed stomachs or improve prospects. Perception of any inkling of a better life supersedes awareness.
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