Rep. Tolulope Akande-Sadipe (APC-Oluyole) has attributed increased impunity from human traffickers to weak legal system, corruption, low prosecution and light penalties.
Akande-Sadipe, also the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora, made the assertions in a statement by her Media Aide, Olamilekan Olusada, on Wednesday in Ibadan.
She spoke at a joint capacity building retreat held for members of the House Committee on Diaspora, Foreign Affairs and Human rights.
The two-day capacity building retreat was held in partnership with the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) Foundation.
Akande-Sadipe also blamed it on lack of knowledge or concern about human trafficking among many criminal justice officials, including the police as well as insensitivity on the part of the citizenry at large.
The committee chairman said that the courts and other security agencies had continue to penalise traffickers with fines instead of serving terms in the correctional centres across the nation.
“This is why it is important for us, as lawmakers, to truly understand various dimensions for human trafficking and its effects on our society as well as humanity.
“So that we can on our own part, do what we can to put an end to it,” she said.
Akande-Sadipe, who estimated the number of Nigerians living abroad to be between 15 and 17 million, called on the Federal Government to effectively engage them to promote national development.
“It has been established that Nigeria is a source, transit and destination country for women and children subjected to trafficking in persons, including forced labour and forced prostitution.
“Innocent women and children are recruited from rural areas within Nigeria.
“They are trafficked to various destinations within and outside Nigeria, and forced into domestic servitude as well as sexual exploitation,” she said.
The committee chairman said that the capacity building retreat would give a better and clearer understanding of the menace of human trafficking in Nigeria and across the globe.
“In 2015, Nigerian Government identified 943 victims of trafficking, including 429 victims of sex trafficking and 514 of labour trafficking.
“Drivers of exploitation in Nigeria, including high unemployment, economic issues and political unrest contributes to high rate of both internal and external migration.
“Unfortunately, there continues to exist a high level of impunity for human trafficking and forced labour in Nigeria,” she said.
Akande-Sadipe said any country that seeks to achieve sustainable development must pay critical attention to capacity building, mobilisation and deployment of human capital resources no matter where they may be.
She said that the huge number of Nigerians abroad represented a large pool of human resource capacity needed to be effectively engaged and coordinated to promote national development.
The lawmaker said that the retreat was part of the committee’s effort to ensure better understanding of the issues and challenges facin.
Akande-Sadipe said it would also help on how to strategically articulate policies and programmes that would promote welfare of Nigerians as well as protect them.
She added that the committee would foster cordial relationships and engagement with Nigerians in the Diaspora, while also making it easy for them to invest at home, or return back home.
“Legislative priorities of the ninth Assembly of the House of Representatives is the area of human capital development and social investment.
“And, one of the prioritised legislative action is to pursue foreign policy reforms to ensure the protection of Nigerians and Nigerian interests in the Diaspora,” she said.
