Stories of Nigerians, other West Africans as well as nationals of war-torn Middle Eastern countries drowning in the Mediterranean Sea in attempts to reach Europe have been regular in recent years. However, the story of twenty six young Nigerian girls between the ages of 14 to 18 found dead in a Spanish warship has opened a new chapter in the sordid tales of illegal migration to Europe by desperate young Africans.
A report said the girls were believed to have been sexually abused and murdered as they attempted to cross the Mediterranean. Following several rescues, their bodies were discovered in a Spanish warship, Cantabria, which was carrying 375 migrants and 23 of the dead girls who had been on a rubber boat with 64 other people. According to Italian media, the bodies were being kept in a refrigerated section of the warship. They said most of the 375 survivors brought to Salerno were sub-Saharan Africans from Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, The Gambia and Sudan. Among the 375 survivors were 90 women, eight of them pregnant, 52 children and some Libyan men and women. Italian prosecutors are said to have commenced investigations.
For many years now Nigerians have risked their lives to go through the Sahara Desert to Libya with the help of smuggling gangs. Many lose their lives in the process due to thirst. And even if they reach Libya they are subjected to a life of slavery, extortion and racism from the local security operatives and the human traffickers that are supposed to aid their journey across the Mediterranean Sea to what they imagine are rich green pastures in Europe.
Some spend months or years in Libya. many of them get imprisoned or even killed in that strife-torn country. Their relatives may never find out what happened to them. They undertake these perilous journeys because of their belief that Europe is a land of milk of honey with streets paved with gold. Whatever the economic situation in Nigeria today, it is better than risking lives by seeking to flee to Europe through illegal routes.
By now the families in some Nigerian states that aid their daughters to undertake these perilous missions know quite well that they are at best destined for prostitution rings in Europe. What they may not know is the magnitude of brutality, degradation and futility of the whole venture. The gangs that smuggle people into Europe are said to charge as much as $6000 per person, which makes us to wonder if these victims are pushed by poverty or greed. Anyone who can raise such an amount in Nigeria already has the capital to establish a small business.
Even though the government has done a lot to check the menace of human trafficking, like establishing the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons [NAPTIP] in 2003, a lot still needs to be done. Just in case some Nigerians are still unaware of the dangers, the National Orientation Agency [NOA] should step up efforts at public enlightenment. The responsibility does not however lie with the government alone. Parents that willingly encourage their daughters to go abroad for prostitution should better have a rethink. It is repugnant to every African culture and value and even if they no longer care for values, they should at least worry about the very high possibility of losing their daughters to violence, drowning and disease.
If only the Nigerian government would effectively collaborate with the Nigerien government to break the back of the human trafficking syndicates, then the illegal migrations would be greatly curtailed because the desperate youngsters cannot take themselves through these routes unaided. In the end however, it is rapid economic growth in our own countries that will create greater opportunities at home and bring to an end this shameful episode of our youngsters dying in the desert and the sea while fleeing to Europe.
