FIDA Badagry Prescribes Stiffer Penalty for Human Trafficker 

Funmi Ogundare 

As the world marks the international day against human trafficking today. the Chairperson, International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) Badagry Branch, Mrs. Adaku Mbama, has condemned in strong terms the scourge, saying that the punishment of a two-year imprisonment or a fine of not less than N250,000, is too mild for persons who commit such crime and that it has to be amended to a more severe one.

Mbama, who made this known in a statement made available to THISDAY, stated that FIDA has zero tolerance for human trafficking and that the Act under Part III Section 13 prohibits all acts of human trafficking in Nigeria.

She opines that such punishment is mild because the psychological and emotional trauma, physical abuse and verbal abuse the victims are meted with, by the perpetrators of this crime can’t be quantified by any pecuniary measure. 

She described human trafficking as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of people through force, fraud or deception, with the aim of exploiting them for profit. “Women and children of all ages and from all backgrounds can become victims of this crime, which occurs in every region of the world.

“There are five main types of human trafficking; trafficking in women and girls for sexual exploitation, trafficking for forced labour, trafficking for forced criminal activities, trafficking for the removal of organs and human/people smuggling.”

Out of these five types, the chairperson noted that the most common type of human trafficking,  is trafficking in women and girls for sexual exploitation, adding, “an act was known as trafficking in persons (prohibition) enforcement and administrative Act, 2015. This act is to provide a legal framework for the prohibition, prevention, detection, prosecution and punishment of the human trafficking in Nigeria. This act protects victims of human trafficking.

Mbama opined that when a child who is less than 18 is removed from his usual place of abode, by a person knowing or having reasons to know that the child may be induced or subjected to prostitution or sexual exploitation in any form, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of not less than 7years and a fine of not less than N1,000,000.

“Using a child for the production of pornography or for any pornographic performances is also an offence and harbouring a child in a brothel is also an offence under the Act. It is said that most young girls and women are being organised and facilitated for foreign travels to prostitute and to be exploited because of their poor pedigree and backgrounds. This is also an offence in Nigeria and quite undignifying,” she stressed.

Mbama described trafficking of human beings as a heinous crime according to Nigerian and international laws, noting that the victims should always speak out and for the relevant authorities to successfully prosecute and convict the traffickers.