A non governmental organisation, African Youth Growth Foundation (AYGF), has warned Nigerians against the dangers of irregular migration, including falling prey to organ harvesters, fraudsters and human traffickers.
Speaking Thursday at Nile University in Abuja during the grand finale of the Migration Information Communication Campaign (MICC) Nigeria project, which included award of prizes to undergraduates and secondary school students for debates and essay competitions, the Executive Director of AYGF, Dr Arome Salifu, listed the projects carried out by the Foundation, which are aimed at curbing irregular migration.
He said: “Migration Information Communication Campaign (MICC) Nigeria is a programme introduced by the Africa Youth Growth Foundation (AYGF) with funding support from the German government, through the foreign office. AYGF is an NGO deeply rooted in communities, youth, social, economic and political development within the country and around the sub region. AYGF was founded by young professionals in 2003 to help advance and support issues around youth development, welfare, wellbeing, social security and protection within the continent.
“As far back as 2005, we partnered with the then Ministry of Corporation and Integration in Africa to put together the first Pan African Youth Conference, with support and funding from the then National Commission for Refugees, the Institute of Peace and Conflict Resolution.
“As an organisation, we believe that every young person has the right to migrate, live where you want to live, right to aspire and meet up with those aspirations within the confines of the law. To this extent, we introduced the MICC Nigerian campaign to enlighten critical minds of young Nigerians and adults to appreciate the regular pathways and also appreciate the dangers inherent in embarking on irregular pathways, leading to their vulnerability to being trafficked.
“Dangers of organ harvesting, death in the Mediterranean sea, Sahara desert, slavery, dehumanised conditions and so many others too numerous to mention are the dangers of irregular migration.
“Our gathering today is to impact on many Nigerians as possible with the appropriate understanding of the subject matter. The grand finale holding today is a key component of the MICC campaign. We have other components we have been running since the beginning of this project. We had a lot of celebrities endorse this campaign, webinars, online digital campaigns, town hall meetings in Benin, Edo state. The 2020 MICC campaign has Edo and FCT as its priority and this explains why we have a concentration of this campaign more in these locations, but we intend to escalate to other states by 2021.
“In the essay competition for undergraduates and debate competition for secondary school students, winners will go home with N250, 000, N150,000 and N100,000 and consolation prizes for others. As an organisation, we are ready to partner with stakeholders to possibly turn around the negative trajectory of irregular migration and human trafficking in Nigeria.”
Also speaking, the Director of Public Enlightenment of NAPTIP, Mr Orakwue Arinze, said that the agency is not against anyone migrating, but that it should be done rightly, warning Nigerians not to fall prey to fraudsters and organ harvesters.
He said: “During this yuletide period, you will meet all sorts of people in the village. They will show you all manner of pictures and cars they borrowed to deceive you into believing they came from the UK and everywhere else. Therefore, what is happening here today is in furtherance of the clarion call that the issues of human trafficking and irregular migration can only be combated if the whole society and government strategy are involved. That’s why we endorsed what the AYGF is doing. Migration is your right.
“From time immemorial, man has always migrated. But you have to migrate right. MICC is key to the work that NAPTIP is doing. There is nothing as dangerous as irregular migration. In Europe, they don’t like you. They don’t want you in their place. If you are a girl and you go there, all you will be exposed to are things you never imagined will happen to you. Imagine being raped repeatedly. Right now, what is trending is Middle East. Don’t they have they own people also looking for jobs? Beware! Be careful! Don’t fall victim to fraudsters and organ harvesters.”
