An average of 30 Nigerian girls are being trafficked into Mali daily, the Nigerian Ambassador to the West African country, Mr. Iliya Nuhu, said on Sunday.
According to him, the girls are between the ages of 10 and 15.
Nuhu, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria in Bamako, lamented that the problem had grown in “magnitude and sophistication’’.
The envoy said the practice was a “kind of modern day slavery’’ with Nigerians going to their villages or towns to recruit young girls.
He said the traffickers were taking advantage of Nigeria’s economic problems to lure their victims with promises of setting them up in “very lucrative businesses abroad’’.
Nuhu said, “These people (traffickers) tell them about businesses which are not there and these girls, with very loose parental upbringing, fall for their tricks.
“They go to Nigeria to source these girls and sell them off to their cronies not only in Mali but in other countries; but we are able to work in cooperation with these countries to map out the routes the traffickers follow.
“Since August, we have assisted not less than 30 of these girls to return to the country and this is a daily routine that the embassy and the staff go through.
“From what I gathered from the Nigerian community in Mali, an average of 20 to 30 girls are being trafficked into this country every day and those we get are those who raise the alarm.’’
He said the embassy was working with the Malian police to identify the traffickers, adding that he had written a memo to Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abuja, to work out a strategy to solve the problem.
He said, “We, however, call on the Federal Government to work with NAPTIP or take appraisal of what they are doing and see if there are gaps to be filled so that they can have the capacity to do this job.
“NAPTIP also should be able to have the necessary information through their own network to be able to follow up these routes and study the mode of operation of the traffickers and beat them to it.’’
NAN spoke to two of four girls rescued from the traffickers.
Joy Monday, a hairdresser, said a woman came to her hometown, Auchi, Edo, to lure her to Mali.
She said, “The woman told me that I can make between N5,000 and N7,000 fixing one person’s hair in Mali only to discover on getting here that I am to be a prostitute and I was rescued by a man who brought me to the embassy.”
Another victim, Chidinma Ubah, said a man called Sunny, brought her to Mali, promising her that he was taking her to Europe.
She said she sought refuge in a police station when she discovered that she was to be a prostitute.
Nuhu said arrangements were being made to return the girls to Nigeria.
Common sense is indeed not common.
Posted: at 12-11-2012 06:36 AM (12 years ago) | Hero
kennynaija at 12-11-2012 10:35 AM (12 years ago) (m)
Those girls are tired of Nigeria so they need greener pastures!
There is no diety worthy of worship except Allah, take it or leave it!
Posted: at 12-11-2012 10:35 AM (12 years ago) | Gistmaniac
oh please u r telling me that some1 can just convince somebody like dat,if the man told u he was taking u to europe to wat. he´s not ur relative neither does he run a charity orgnisation.those girls know very well what they r going to do,if luck runs out on them rthey will start talking rubbish.the deal was already signed be4 they take off. if to say na jazz,i go undastand but if na clear eyes they know exactly what they r in 4
Posted: at 12-11-2012 10:45 AM (12 years ago) | Gistmaniac
TRENDING GISTS 
UK Police Recover Body Of 16Yr Old British-Nigerian Boy Who Drowned In A Lake
PHOTOS: Young Woman Brutally Murdered By Suspected Ritualists, Priv@te Part Removed In Ogun
Lovely Video Of Singer Davido And His Wife, Chioma Vibing To His Song
Woman Slams Her Husband For Allegedly Having Unprotected S3x With Random Girls After Publicly Apologizing To Her
Actress, Laide Bakare Crowned UN Ambassador Of Peace
Actress, Uche Montana Celebrates Birthday With New Stunning Photos
VIDEO: President Tinubu Conferred With a Chieftaincy Title in Anambra State
Passengers Killed, Vehicles Set Ablaze As Gunmen Attack Commercial Bus in Imo