Leadership Sunday’s PATRICK OCHOGA who visited Italy recently reports on the underground booming criminal sex-trade in human trafficking between Nigeria and its Italian cartels.

Beyond the aesthetic and a blend of architectural master piece that attract millions of tourists annually to the cities of  Europe, particularly Italy, the City over the years has become one of the receiving world capital of a growing booming sex trade and human trafficking.

The United Nation migration agency report indicated that more 80 percent of trafficked women from Nigeria especially from South-South state of Edo are brought to Italy for sexual exploitation.

The lure of lucrative jobs and promises of a better life by their traffickers become a mirage the moment they step on European soil. In fact, to many of the victims it is the beginning of a journey into the world of sex for euros and drug dealings.

The stories of exploited young African migrant girls abound right from the point of being trafficked from the sourced country, through the perilous journey of crossing the Libyan deserts and the Mediterranean Sea, to the coast of Italy where hundreds and thousands of migrants are rescued by Italian coast guards.

Most of the rescued victims are taken into various settlement centres seeking asylum from the Italian authority. While they wait in rehabilitation centres some of them are engaged in skill acquisition and farm work.

However, global efforts by the European Union, EU, the International Organization on Migration, IOM, and Non-Governmental Organization, NGO’s in waging the fight against illegal human trafficking, sex-trade, appears to have taken a new dimension, as the perpetrators both from the sourced nation and Europe have formed a powerful cartel in the striving sex-trade.

Our correspondent, who was part of a visiting delegation on the instance of a Sicily-based NGO, International Cooperative South South (CISS), was funded by the European Union.

Part of the focus of the engagement was to build and foster synergy between Edo state government and other stakeholders against human trafficking.

It was however gathered that despite recorded efforts in the reduction in influx of trafficked girls by their Madams, some Italians in collaboration with their Nigerian counterparts are deeply involved and benefiting hugely from the dehumanizing business said to be second globally to drugs trafficking.

Confession Of Repentant ‘Madams’

Some of the ‘madams’ in the cities of Palermo, Catania and Barcelona had abided by the declaration of the Oba of Benin, who had two years ago placed curses on traffickers and freed the victims of sex-exploitation, confessed that they are still haunted by their past from their victims even as they opened up that they have stopped the illegal trade.

One of the repentant ‘Madams’ from Benin City, who pleaded not to be mentioned in the report confessed: “Since the Oba placed curses against trafficking in girls, we have since stopped the business, we respect and fear our monarch. No true sons or daughters of Benin can go against Oba’s directives.  I don’t have any girl in my custody anymore.

“Even at that we are still being arrested by the Italian police every now and then. Some of the freed girls at any flimsy excuse will just call the police that we still traffick girls to Italy. This is our predicament right now, some of our Benin women and men are presently in prisons.

“Funny enough, the girls we brought still go to the road to prostitute and we don’t ask them for money since our Oba’s pronouncement. We want to appeal to the Oba to also help us by placing curse on anybody that will lie against repentant Madams because this is what our people do now in Italy,” she stated.

Other repentant traffickers also alleged that some Edo leaders in Palermo connived with police authorities on trumped up allegations against former traffickers of engaging in trafficking thereby sending many of them to prison.

For instance, in the city of Palermo alone with a population of about 400 Edo indigenes, had shunned to join any association in the city for fear of betrayals among its kinsmen.

According to Happy Agho , a resident of Palermo, “Human trafficking has stopped”, she said.

“We Bini’s revered our Oba, we no longer do it. They are however informants among us who lie to the police in Italy. Oba should also place curses on informants among the Edo’s in Italy. Imagine someone lying to the police that you still traffick in girls just because the police will pay them between £500 to £1000.  This is the problem we are facing now in Italy.

In one of the resettlement centre located at Cassa, in  Balaro, housing over 100 girls, one of the trafficked Nigerian girls who identified herself as Precious narrated that she came to Italy through Libya and had since remained in the camp in the last 2 years. She said the condition at the centre is better than returning to Nigeria.

“I have spent two years in this place. The Italians are taking care of us, they normally pay us £75 monthly. But in the last months we have not been paid and they don’t allow us to travel or go out. We are about 140 girls in the centre. Whatever the situation here, life is far better than in Nigeria”, she added.

Building Synergy Against Sex-Trade

An interpreter, Marzia Raimondo, working with one of the NGO’s that caters for trafficked girls in Palermo, described the condition of the girls in Italy as pathetic.

“The situation of trafficked girls in Italy is very bad at the moment. Some who were trafficked many years ago have become ‘Madams’ themselves because it is the only business they can do. At the moment there is serious economic crisis in Europe, even for those of us who are Italian we are struggling to survive.

“Many of the girls came in their young age and left young children behind in Nigeria to pursue greener pastures. We are concerned about the girls; they need protection especially knowing that some of them had taken oath from their traffickers.

“However, I don’t want to under estimate what the Oba has done; his pronouncement on the matter has been very helpful too. The tools the Madams use now are threats, and physical attack to compel the girls to do their bidding. You can see visible scars on the victims and fractured arms as a result of beating.

“Another issue we are facing is the health situation of the migrant girls. Some of the girls at the age 13, have been raped severally on their way and got pregnant.  When they arrive the shores of Italy such person is no longer of sound mind because of the trauma she had passed through.

“Some of the girls we are handling their cases are tired and in fact they want to go back but they are afraid of the stigma of not making a success of their journey”, she stated.

At a round table meeting convened by CISS, held at the Nigerian Embassy in Rome, attracted among others, a forum of NGO’s and Italian prosecutors.

A representative of the Nigerian Ambassador to Italy,  Salawu Bello, the minister, Consular & Immigration,  insisted that one of the  solutions to the trafficking in human and sex trade, can come when all stakeholders come together to find a uniform approach to it.

“Research has shown that after drugs, human trafficking is the biggest money spinner. Nigeria like you know is signatory to many treaty against trafficking. Perpetrators have been punished and that is why we have NAPTIP. We are still looking at clauses where parliament can be useful in intervention.”

Bello noted that it is also pertinent for the Italian government to also sanction perpetrators at the receiving state, adding that if there is no demand there won’t be supply.

“The stringent visa policy to Europe encourages illegal migration. This I think should be reviewed so that those seeking to travel for one reason or the other can do so through the appropriate entry channel. European government should also as a matter of urgency help us to recover looted funds that would help to develop Nigeria and thereby keep our youths at home.”

President Coordinamento Italiano, Maria Ludovica posited that the implementation of conventions is very key to the fight against human trafficking.

“I think there is need to double action and network globally. Lack of economic development forced people to migrate; women empowerment is important and must be taken seriously, education has to reach every nook and cranny of Africa and free flow of information.”

A member of Edo State Task Force against Human Trafficking and former aide to Governor Godwin Obaseki, Comrade Solomon Okoduwa, told the Italian stakeholders that Edo State is the most affected, and called for urgent intervention and assistance geared towards rehabilitation and empowerment for victims.

“One of the approaches to end the scourge is intensive advocacy and massive campaign. In Edo, we have taken the campaign to motor parks, schools, churches, market places and mosques. The Edo state government alone cannot do it.

“The reintegration plan of governor Obaseki is to see how to cater for those who returned from other Countries. The task force set up by the government is working and taking the campaign to the nooks and cranny of Edo state”.

Understanding Criminal Global Network

Sex trade between Nigeria and its Italian criminal gang continue to boom because most of the victims find it difficult to disclose the identity of their traffickers.

It was however learnt as enumerated earlier, that some Italians pay huge sums of money to their contacts in Nigeria who traffick girls to Europe. The girls are forced to pay over 100 percent of the sum they spent to get to Italy before they can be set free.

It was gathered that the Italian Police and Interpol, through intelligence are working to unravel the network of the criminal sex-trade gang. Though some arrests made were said to have opened up on their activities both in Palermo and Catania.

Corroborating the global criminal network, a member of Edo community and a human rights activist, Pastor Mike Oputteh, said the sex-trade in Italy has continued to grow into a huge lucrative business owing to the criminal collaboration with some Italians traffickers that benefit from the trade.

He said, “From investigation, I discovered that not all traffickers are mainly Nigerians, some Italians are also deeply involved who are not seen in the pictures. Italian ‘Madams’ will sponsor Nigerian traffickers to bring girls to the Country.

“The trafficker usually contacts his Nigerian counterpart who scouts for girls to be trafficked to Europe where they force the girls to prostitute and money will be paid to the Italian sponsors.

“Though they are few in the trade but they do exist. The Italian traffickers pay more to the Madams to bring girls. Sometimes they collect between £5,000 to £10, 000 per girl, in return they pay about twice the amount to the Italian Madam within two months. Thereafter, the Nigerian Madams automatically inherit the girls who now pay between £40, 000 to £50,000 to their Nigerian Madam that brought them, before they can be free to work for their own money”.

CISS Project Manager, Margurita Maniscalco said one of the challenges migrants face is the respect of their rights which she noted is what CISS over the years is committed to as organization.

“We perfectly understand the need of Nigerian boys and girls, migrants. We have to be honest here. In Europe, we have significant problem in respecting the human rights of migrants. But with our NGO it means that we are independent from the government. We promote and stand for the rights of migrants.

“We believe as humans, we are equal with the same rights. The main issue is opening the migration policy of Europe, and we are supporting a big change in policy. But we are yet to see the change”.