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President of Nigeria Community in Cote D’Ivoire, Chief Onwuchelu Emeka, has called on Nigerian government to act fast following the increasing activities of human trafficking on Nigeria-Cote D’Ivoire route.
He spoke during an NTA International programme on human trafficking monitored in Kano.
According to him, “Nigerian girls are particularly being trafficked to Cote D’Ivoire for what he described as sexual exploitation.
“Young Nigerian girls, whose ages are between 11 and 18 are being massively transported from Nigeria to Cote D’Ivoire by human traffickers under the pretext of securing them non-existent lucrative jobs.
“When these girls arrive in Cote D’Ivoire, the traffickers deliberately deny them access to communication and information by dispossessing them of their mobile phones.
“Under this situation, they are subjected to different forms of maltreatment and lack the means to reach out to anyone outside their enclave for help,” he said.
According to Emeka, the situation is pathetic and needs urgent intervention by the Nigerian government, to tackle the menace through diplomatic channels.
He lamented that the population of the girls being trafficked from Nigeria to Cote D’Ivoire is on the upward trend, while many of them have died in the process with no information on how to contact their parents.
He advised parents never to release their children to anyone or group of people with unverifiable identity.
