By Gift Olivia Samuel, The Sight News
ABUJA: As millions of people cross Nigeria’s borders every year, a small proportion of Nigerians on the move are smuggled along various land, sea and air routes. Following this, a new research by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), has revealed that 85 per cent of Nigerians had in practice used at least one smuggler or facilitator for their Journey.
The research, from the UNODC Observatory on Smuggling of Migrants(SOM), which surveyed Nigerians on the move, also noted that 75 per cent said they had planned to use smugglers or travel facilitators when they were preparing for their journey, while 30 per cent believed there was no alternative to being smuggled in order to achieve their migration goals.
The Observatory on Smuggling of Migrants in Nigeria which was launched in Abuja, on Tuesday alongside the flag-off of the 2022 Nationwide Sensitization Program on SOM in Nigeria, focussed on migrant smuggling of Nigerians to and through West and North Africa, and to Southern Europe.
Speaking at the launch, the UNODC Country Representative, Oliver Stolpes said the ultimate objective of the research was to support United Nations member states in preventing and combatting the smuggling of Migrants, promoting international cooperation among states in counter-smuggling operations and promoting the rights of smuggled people.
Commenting further, he said “The field research that informs the Smuggling of Observatory Analysis on Migrant smuggling from Nigeria commenced in 2019 and ran through 2021 and was undertaken in three phases. The first phase covered Edo, Imo, Kano and Lagos States; the second phase focussed on Adamawa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Enugu, FCT, Kano and Osun States; and the third phase which focussed more on the transnational aspect of the phenomenal, looked at the development in Burkina Faso, Libya, Mali, Niger Republic and Tunisia.
“The primary purpose of the smuggling of Migrants Observatory research in Nigeria is to provide up-to-date online repository of information on the trends and patterns of migrant smuggling that originates, transits through and that terminates in Nigeria. To this end, it offers open access to data, and analysis on migrants smuggling routes and the profiles of smugglers, on the modus operandi of smuggling organisations, smuggling fees and the modes of payment, the drivers of smuggling demands, the demands of the services of smugglers, the profiles of smuggled people themselves and the abuses perpetrated against smuggled people along their journey”, he said.
While noting that due to violence and insecurity, lack of access to travel documents and corruption, some Nigerians use migrant smugglers even within West Africa, he pointed out that Nigerians use smugglers at higher rate than other West Africans for travel by land within West Africa and North Africa; adding also that the launch of the Observatory, provided an opportunity to engage jointly with the UNODC partners in the analysis of trends, with a view to becoming more proactive in identifying and responding to new developments, adjusting their response and becoming more effective in raising awareness among potentially smuggled persons.
For her part, the Migration Programme Manager of the Canadian High Commission in Nigeria, Marjorie Lubin, said strengthening evidence-based response to trafficking in persons and smuggling of Migrants in Nigeria is a project which started in 2020 and was borne out of recommendation that there was a lack of reliable data essential for evidence-based decision and policy making.
She stated that the team worked on equipping stakeholders and partner agencies with the tools to identify, analyse and document findings; and also worked on conducting targeted and effective investigations, how to successfully prosecute cases, informing the population and detering people from being further victimized.
Earlier, the Comptroller General of Immigration, Idris Jere who was represented by the Deputy Comptroller General, Visa and Residency, Ishaka Haliru, noted that the Nigeria Immigration Service according to its mandate and responsibility to fight the menace of migrant smuggling, will continue to effectively collaborate with all critical stakeholders and development partners, adding that the event again solidifies the commitment of the service in the fight against SOM.
The research findings also shows that smugglers and other actors perpetrate abuses and crimes against smuggled Nigerian migrants at an alarming rate. Half of smuggled Nigerians surveyed in 2021 reported physical violence, while 25 per cent cited being detained and 20 per cent described sexual violence. Adults reported significant threats to children along these routes as well, including the risk of being trafficked, exploited, kidnapped, or subjected to physical and sexual violence and robbery.
