About a month ago, Mr. Patrick from Kabwir, Pankshin local government area of Plateau State raised an alarm that his 25-yrs old daughter, Ritmwa and her three years old daughter were missing. He contacted his relatives who began a search until the duo were found in Jos, the State capital with a woman identified as Mary who was planning to send them to Warri, Delta State.
Ritmwa is a barely literate adult but vulnerable, she said she was promised a job in Warri hence her abscondment from her home in Kabwir.
Last December, Abigail, a pregnant 19 years old from Jos was lured to Abuja by two women who promised to help her get a new life. Her new born baby was snatched from her by unknown persons while she was pushed into prostitution. Her father, Mr. Emmanuel now worries how the baby could be recovered.
In October, 2022, 17 years Na’ankiel from Mikang was taken in the night from her home in Garkawa to Port Harcourt in Rivers State with a promise of getting a job as a maid to a family, she returned with stories about being turned to a prostitute.
In the same year, a pregnant woman left Gidan Dabat in Qua’an Pan local government area to roam the streets in Jos in search of “someone who will buy” her baby because she learnt that “they sell babies in Jos.”
Recall that insecurity and poverty in the recent past had exposed Plateau State to the rising cases of human trafficking, spousal/child abandonment, sexual abuses, drug dependency, cultism and other emerging vices. The National Human Rights Commission, the State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, Nigeria Association of Women Journalists, International Federation of Women Lawyers, among other groups repeatedly raised concerns about the development.
Although insecurity in the hinterlands has abated, poverty is now exposing young women/girls to abuses as they ignorantly get trafficked out in the guise of greener pasture. The trend is for those who got out to return and flaunt their “wealth and exposure” and lure others who show interest to join.
However, Ritmwa who was intercepted in His and her planned journey aborted is not a happy person as she said the quest for employment motivated her to embark on the journey.
She said, “I was going to Warri to look for job, friends testified there are openings there. Madam Mary is the grandmother to the people who called me to come to Warri and she was helping me to go there.
“I did not inform anyone where I was going because when I told my father about the plan, he didn’t buy the idea but because I am looking for employment so that I can send my child to school, I had to go with them. I need my own money, I have been helping my stepmother to sell food in the village, I don’t know anybody in Warri but I was willing to try because people told me there are jobs there.”
Ritmwa’s aunt who found her and her child at the Tudun Wada area of Jos north local government area said, “We have seen cases where what seemed as genuine jobs turned out to be a scam. These people prey on vulnerable people and take their children away. When the children return, some will come back very sick before you know, they will die. The children have very terrible tales to tell that is why we must do everything to prevent them from leaving home in this manner.”
Uba-Ochanya Fatoki, the Programme Manager/Legal Officer, Christian Women for Excellence and Empowerment in Nigerian Society, CWEENS whose organization works with vulnerable people cautioned parents against giving out their children.
She said, “Parents should be discouraged from sending off their children in search of greener pasture because this has proven to do more harm than good to the children in the long run. Experiences from working with young girls have shown that promises of a better future made by the care givers are never kept and these children are seen either roaming the streets or even being exposed to dangerous situations.
“There are varying risks that accompany sending children especially young girls to live in places outside their homes, where they would work as domestic servants. Some of the common risk children face include; long and tiring working hours, insufficient or inadequate food and accommodation, denial of access to education, healthcare and right to rest/leisure, humiliating treatment including physical and verbal violence and sexual abuse.
“These factors can have irreversible physical, psychological, and moral impact on the development health and wellbeing of a child. Also, many children who have been uprooted from their homes risk being forced into work or even being trafficked, especially if they are migrating alone or taking irregular routes without their families.”
