Fake scholarships and jobs used by traffickers to trap people into prostitution
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Human traffickers are cashing in on the desire of Nigerians to emigrate by using fake scholarships and jobs to lure and trap especially the young into prostitution in foreign countries, the government has warned.
National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) Director General Fatima Waziri-Azi raised the alarm over increasing numbers of such promising advertorials being used to force people into prostitution.
She spoke in Abuja at the start of activities marking the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, where she disclosed that traffickers force their victims to take oaths and also take their nude videos to blackmail them online.
To underscore the problem, acting International Organisation for Migration (IOM) Chief of Mission Prestage Murima disclosed that the IOM has coordinated the return of more than 27,000 Nigerian migrants from 82 countries since 2017.
“There is an increase in online trafficking. For instance, last month I interacted with a human rights organisation located in North Cyprus which is a country that is only recognised by Turkey and not other EU countries,” Waziri-Azi said.
“The organisation shared with me that North Cyprus is a country of about 300,000 people and out of the number about 45,000 are Africans living there and out of the 45,000, 25,000 are Nigerians and most of the young people among them are trafficked to North Cyprus for fake jobs and fake scholarships.”
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Traffickers facilitate visa issuance with false documents
“Between September and last year when I had interactions with them, they had rescued seven Nigerian girls, all of them trafficked online, they all clicked on an advertorial that was posted on Instagram for scholarships, they applied for the admissions online, it was facilitated by the traffickers at the other end, they paid for enrollment fees online,” Waziri-Azi said, via The Nation.
“They were sent some enrollment admission letters which they took to the embassy and they were given something they will get visa on arrival in Turkey and that was the same trend for the seven girls that were rescued.
“They get to North Cyprus, their traffickers are there to welcome them and there is no scholarship or school to attend and we’re all pushed into false prostitution.
“At NAPTIP, we have seen an increase in fake job advertorials and fake scholarships via social media as traffickers use it to recruit and catfish unsuspecting victims.
“Traffickers also use technology to control their victims. For instance, besides oath taking, they make nude videos of their victims and threaten to share the explicit images online.
“While technology is frequently misused to facilitate trafficking in persons, its positive use helps in combating trafficking and to support anti-trafficking work, such as aiding investigations that in turn enhance prosecutions, scaling awareness campaigns, development of technology-based tools that support victims and survivors and enhancing international cooperation.”
