Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, is now the choice destination for Nigerian human traffickers to ferry their victims, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has revealed. 

Nduka Nwanwenne, the zonal commander of NAPTIP in Benin, disclosed this on Wednesday at a three-day sensitisation programme on human trafficking.

According to Mr Nwanwenne, traffickers are now more focused on airlifting their victims instead of ferrying them by land to their destinations.

“This is because the human traffickers have stepped up their game, and the destination of choice of victims of human trafficking was now Dubai,” he stated. “Human trafficking is not abating in the country because traffickers make so much money from their victims, so they take it as a business.”

Mr Nwanwenne further disclosed that the traffickers “are now also concentrating on rural areas” for victims.

The zonal commander also revealed that irregular migration was also used as a ploy for human trafficking, such that victims were exploited for their organs.

“There is now an increase in organ harvesting not just for money rituals, but also for transplants,” he pointed out. “This is because the need for organs is higher than the supply.”

While noting that the issue of human trafficking was still on the front burner, Mr Nwanwenne said that there was a need for partnership to end human trafficking.

“Parents should control themselves and give birth to only the number of children they can cater for,” he advised.

(NAN)