The Comptroller, Nigerian Immigration Services, Enugu State Command, Mr. Joachim Olumba, has warned people who engage in human trafficking and smuggling to refrain or face forfeiture of their property and also serve the prescribed jail term.
Mr. Olumba made this known during a sensitisation and enlightenment campaign on smuggling of migrants organized by the Nigerian Immigration Services in collaboration with International Centre for Migration Policy Development in Enugu.
He urged those perpetuating the illegal trade to desist from such as the 2015 immigration Act provided stringent penalty for those apprehended.
Mr. Olumba said that the present economic realities had surged the rate at which not only the youth, but older generations of Nigerians nurse burning interest to leave the country, a move popularly known in local parlance as “Japa.”
He urged the youth to be cautious of migration smugglers, describing as worrisome a situation where migrants, who through desperation had been subjected to various degrees of harrowing experiences in the hand of this smugglers.
“Driven largely by social, economic and security concerns, Nigerians, especially the youth are leaving the shores of our country in their droves.
“To many, what is paramount is to achieve the goal of migrating from the country and not the means of reaching their destinations,” he said.
Mr. Olumba further said that, “whether they are smuggled or trafficked, or they even get to leave the country by means of stowaway, does not really matter to them. The ultimate interest is to relocate to foreign lands. As far as the vast majority are concerned, the end will eventually justify the means.”
Speaking on the background to Checkmate the rising cases of trafficking perpetuated by migrant smugglers in the southest region, the Zonal Commander, National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and Other Related Matters (NAPTIP), Mrs. Nneka Ajie, noted that inadequate logistics were part of the challenge confronting the agency in the discharge of its duties.
The project assistant, International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), Mr. Philemon Bonos, emphasised the need to address economic woes confronting the nation, which he said had occasioned the increasing youth migration to foreign countries through any available channel.
Testimonies of victims who fell prey in the hands of smugglers were played for the benefit of those who participated in the sensitisation programme.
The participants were drawn from various paramilitary agencies, the clergy, Non Governmental Organisations, and various development agencies.
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