Showing posts with label human trafficking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label human trafficking. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 27, 2019
Video - Nigeria locking up survivors of human trafficking
Despite attempts by the Nigerian government to combat human trafficking and provide support for those that survived being trafficked, care for victims is still severely lacking, a new report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) says.
According to the report, the Nigerian government is illegally detaining survivors of human trafficking, prohibiting the often traumatised women from recovering from the experiences they went through.
"The Nigerian authorities are actually detaining trafficking survivors in shelters, not allowing them to leave at will, in violation of Nigeria’s international legal obligations," the New York-based rights body said.
"The detentions overwhelmingly affect women and girls, and put their recovery and well-being at risk."
The report is based on interviews with 76 survivors, 20 of them girls between the ages 8 and 17, who either were trafficked out of Nigeria and later returned, or were trafficked into Nigeria.
They were often promised well-paying jobs as domestic workers, hairdressers, or hotel staff but were then tricked and trapped in exploitation and forced to pay back a huge "debt" for their travel.
Often, the people who trafficked them were people they knew personally.
"My aunt brought me here. She said she will help me. When I got here, she said I had to work before the apprenticeship," one of the survivors told HRW.
"She took me somewhere to work as a house girl…. I was mistreated. She did not give me food; I washed cars, cleaned the house and the compound," the 14-year-old, who is one of several victims quoted in the report, said.
"My aunt used to collect the money. Their kids were too hostile to me. I decided to leave."
'Closed shelters'
Over the last couple of years, the Nigerian government has introduced several anti-trafficking laws and started the the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), which runs shelters for trafficking survivors.
However, those shelters are severely lacking, HRW said.
"Some survivors in the NAPTIP shelters complained about not being able to receive visitors or contact their families, not having clear information about when they would reunite with their families, monotonous daily schedules, or boredom from doing nothing," the report states.
"Those referred by NAPTIP to private shelters were unhappy about poor conditions and services, including inadequate food, lack of soap or body lotion, lack of medical and psychosocial care, and lack of job training," it added.
The women often suffer from depression, anxiety, insomnia, flashbacks, aches and pains, and other physical ailments as a result of their ordeal.
Despite attempts by the Nigerian government to help them reintegrate, the so-called "closed shelters" do not provide enough support for the women to reintegrate into Nigerian society, HRW said.
"Women and girls trafficked in and outside Nigeria have suffered unspeakable abuses at the hands of traffickers, but have received inadequate medical, counseling, and financial support to reintegrate into society" senior women’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch Agnes Odhiambo said.
"We were shocked to find traumatised survivors locked behind gates, unable to communicate with their families, for months on end, in government-run facilities."
HRW has called on Nigeria to better listen to the experiences of survivors and offer more room for community services, health workers and other organisations to play in a role in the recovery of the women.
"Nigerian authorities are struggling with a crisis of trafficking, and working under challenging circumstances, but they can do a better job by listening to what survivors have to say about their own needs," Odhiambo said.
"To end trafficking and break cycles of exploitation and suffering, survivors need the government to help them heal from the trauma of trafficking and earn a decent living in Nigeria."
Al Jazeera
Related stories: The illegal sex trafficking trail between Nigeria and Europe
Women from Nigeria forced to become sex workers during 2018 World Cup in Russia
Video - Nigerian women trafficked to Europe for prostitution at 'crisis level'
Tuesday, July 2, 2019
Nigerian officials state trafficked women can return “wealthy from prostitution”
Home Office officials have provoked outrage by stating that trafficked women from Nigeria can return to the country “wealthy from prostitution” and “held in high regard”.
The comments are found in an official policy and information note on the trafficking of women from Nigeria, which is used by Home Office decision-makers handling protection and human rights claims.
The guidance has been updated to include a paragraph on the prospects of trafficked women if they return to Nigeria, citing EU and Australian reports that make similar observations, which was not in the last version published in November 2016.
The paragraph reads: “Trafficked women who return from Europe, wealthy from prostitution, enjoy high social-economic status and in general are not subject to negative social attitudes on return. They are often held in high regard because they have improved income prospects.”
Dr Charlotte Proudman, a human rights barrister who represents women and girls in cases of gender-based violence, particularly female genital mutilation, said: “The Home Office’s deplorable policy on the trafficking of women in Nigeria shows the hostility that women victims face in claiming asylum in the UK. Suggesting that trafficked women are wealthy and enjoy a [high] socioeconomic status is fundamentally wrong.
“The women that I represent in immigration courts often suffer from PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder] and are always destitute. They have usually been raped repeatedly and beaten and their family have disowned them. Some even face the risk of violent reprisals on return home. The abuse they experience is akin to slavery.
“The picture painted by the Home Office is far from reality and serves only to further myths about prostitution and sex trafficking. The policy will no doubt encourage decision-makers on behalf of the home secretary to refuse even more asylum claims.
“The Home Office needs to issue an apology and immediately amend the policy.”
Kate Osamor, the Labour MP and chair of the all-party parliamentary group on Nigeria, which has looked at the impact of trafficking, said among all the stories of trafficking they heard “there was no happy ending”.
“It’s very concerning,” she said. “It shows the Home Office doesn’t trust people who go through these experiences. You’d expect authorities to take them in, listen and unpack their experience and not treat trafficking like it’s a job.
“This is advice to civil servants who don’t even meet the people, it’s all done by form. They should be told if they say they’ve been trafficked, they should meet them in person and unpack the experience.”
She added: “[According to] the reality and the data, and the people we met, no one ‘makes it’. They get caught up in trafficking and spiral. People are sold on the internet. Those people get caught up in prostitution and should be looked after. They’ve been beaten, their mental health is poor, they’ve been raped.”
Kate Garbers, managing director at Unseen, the modern slavery and trafficking charity, said the updated guidance underlined the contradictory nature of the government’s response to protection of slavery and trafficking, adding it “potentially shows that a hostile environment is still alive and well within the Home Office”.
She said: “We find it astounding that the Home Office has felt the need to include such a statement in its country guidance for Nigeria, especially as the reference points for this claim are unclear.
“We must be mindful to not conflate issues of prostitution as an economic migration activity and trafficking into the sex industry whereby all control has been taken away from an individual.
“The guidance notes that treatment upon return to Nigeria for those who have been trafficked is limited, and accepts they may face discrimination and marginalisation as well as persecution.
“Including the statements that trafficked women from Nigeria can return to the country “wealthy from prostitution” and “held in high regard” is likely to put doubt into a decision-maker’s mind and has the potential to justify poor decision-making about the risks faced upon return rather than focusing on assessing and understanding the individual for whom they are making a decision.”
The Home Office assessment states that a woman who has been trafficked for sexual exploitation and returns to Nigeria is unlikely to be at risk of reprisal or being re-trafficked from her original traffickers, but acknowledges they may be at risk of abuse or being re-trafficked depending on their particular vulnerability.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “Sadly, modern slavery, forced labour and human trafficking are not evils of the past. Through the Modern Slavery Act, the government is committed to ensuring victims get the support they need and perpetrators are brought to justice.”
The Guardian
Related stories: Video - Nigerian women trafficked to Europe for prostitution at 'crisis level'
The illegal sex trafficking trail between Nigeria and Europe
The comments are found in an official policy and information note on the trafficking of women from Nigeria, which is used by Home Office decision-makers handling protection and human rights claims.
The guidance has been updated to include a paragraph on the prospects of trafficked women if they return to Nigeria, citing EU and Australian reports that make similar observations, which was not in the last version published in November 2016.
The paragraph reads: “Trafficked women who return from Europe, wealthy from prostitution, enjoy high social-economic status and in general are not subject to negative social attitudes on return. They are often held in high regard because they have improved income prospects.”
Dr Charlotte Proudman, a human rights barrister who represents women and girls in cases of gender-based violence, particularly female genital mutilation, said: “The Home Office’s deplorable policy on the trafficking of women in Nigeria shows the hostility that women victims face in claiming asylum in the UK. Suggesting that trafficked women are wealthy and enjoy a [high] socioeconomic status is fundamentally wrong.
“The women that I represent in immigration courts often suffer from PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder] and are always destitute. They have usually been raped repeatedly and beaten and their family have disowned them. Some even face the risk of violent reprisals on return home. The abuse they experience is akin to slavery.
“The picture painted by the Home Office is far from reality and serves only to further myths about prostitution and sex trafficking. The policy will no doubt encourage decision-makers on behalf of the home secretary to refuse even more asylum claims.
“The Home Office needs to issue an apology and immediately amend the policy.”
Kate Osamor, the Labour MP and chair of the all-party parliamentary group on Nigeria, which has looked at the impact of trafficking, said among all the stories of trafficking they heard “there was no happy ending”.
“It’s very concerning,” she said. “It shows the Home Office doesn’t trust people who go through these experiences. You’d expect authorities to take them in, listen and unpack their experience and not treat trafficking like it’s a job.
“This is advice to civil servants who don’t even meet the people, it’s all done by form. They should be told if they say they’ve been trafficked, they should meet them in person and unpack the experience.”
She added: “[According to] the reality and the data, and the people we met, no one ‘makes it’. They get caught up in trafficking and spiral. People are sold on the internet. Those people get caught up in prostitution and should be looked after. They’ve been beaten, their mental health is poor, they’ve been raped.”
Kate Garbers, managing director at Unseen, the modern slavery and trafficking charity, said the updated guidance underlined the contradictory nature of the government’s response to protection of slavery and trafficking, adding it “potentially shows that a hostile environment is still alive and well within the Home Office”.
She said: “We find it astounding that the Home Office has felt the need to include such a statement in its country guidance for Nigeria, especially as the reference points for this claim are unclear.
“We must be mindful to not conflate issues of prostitution as an economic migration activity and trafficking into the sex industry whereby all control has been taken away from an individual.
“The guidance notes that treatment upon return to Nigeria for those who have been trafficked is limited, and accepts they may face discrimination and marginalisation as well as persecution.
“Including the statements that trafficked women from Nigeria can return to the country “wealthy from prostitution” and “held in high regard” is likely to put doubt into a decision-maker’s mind and has the potential to justify poor decision-making about the risks faced upon return rather than focusing on assessing and understanding the individual for whom they are making a decision.”
The Home Office assessment states that a woman who has been trafficked for sexual exploitation and returns to Nigeria is unlikely to be at risk of reprisal or being re-trafficked from her original traffickers, but acknowledges they may be at risk of abuse or being re-trafficked depending on their particular vulnerability.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “Sadly, modern slavery, forced labour and human trafficking are not evils of the past. Through the Modern Slavery Act, the government is committed to ensuring victims get the support they need and perpetrators are brought to justice.”
The Guardian
Related stories: Video - Nigerian women trafficked to Europe for prostitution at 'crisis level'
The illegal sex trafficking trail between Nigeria and Europe
Tuesday, March 12, 2019
Video - Nigerian human trafficking survivor seeks justice in Mali
The government of Nigeria says itis starting the repatriation process of up to 20,000 girls who’ve been trafficked to Mali. In January, the national agency fighting human trafficking said many of these girls, who’ve been tricked with promises of getting jobs in Europe, ended up working as sex slaves in mining camps of Mali.
Precious is one of several thousand Nigerian girls and young women trafficked and sexually exploited in Mali. In two years she suffered countless indignities and almost lost her life. She is staying back to seek justice and compensation from the woman who trafficked her.
Related stories: Video - Nigeria struggles to rescue 20,000 girls from Mali sex trade
Video - Nigerian women trafficked to Europe for prostitution at 'crisis level'
Nigeria's international sex-trafficking ring
Monday, March 11, 2019
Video - Nigerian sex traffickers used fan-ids to exploit women and girls
According to reports Russia's World Cup was used by Nigerian sex traffickers to entrap unsuspecting women. Traffickers used fan IDs allowing visa free-entry into Russia to ferry women and girls into the country.
Thursday, March 7, 2019
Video - Nigeria struggles to rescue 20,000 girls from Mali sex trade
Nigeria is struggling to bring home an estimated 20,000 girls trapped in Mali. The victims of the sex trade are kept in appalling conditions. Officials say collusion between law enforcement agents and traffickers is hampering the rescue efforts.
Related stories: Video - Nigerian women trafficked to Europe for prostitution at 'crisis level'
Nigeria's international sex-trafficking ring
20,000 Nigerian girls trafficked to Mali for prostitution
Women from Nigeria forced to become sex workers during 2018 World Cup in Russia
Blessing Obuson thought Russia's soccer World Cup would be an opportunity to find a job, so the 19-year-old flew into Moscow from Nigeria last June.
She arrived in the country on a fan ID, which allowed visa-free entry to World Cup spectators with match tickets but did not permit them to work.
Despite that, Ms Obuson said she had hoped to work as a shop assistant to provide for her two-year-old daughter and younger siblings back in Nigeria.
However, she said, she was locked in a flat on the outskirts of Moscow and forced into sex work along with 11 other Nigerian women.
They were supervised by a madam, also from Nigeria.
She said the madam confiscated her passport and told her she'd only get it back once she worked off a fictional debt of $50,000.
Ms Obuson told her story to a rare English-speaking client, who then informed anti-slavery activists, who later rescued her.
According to her lawyer, and statements from prosecutors, two Nigerians were arrested and charged with human trafficking after a sting operation in which they agreed to sell Ms Obuson for two million roubles (about $43,000) to a police officer posing as a client.
'They spit in your face'
Ms Obuson's case is not isolated. Reuters met with eight Nigerian women aged between 16 and 22 who said they were brought into Russia on fan IDs and forced into sex work.
All said they had endured violence.
"They don't give you food for days, they slap you, they beat you, they spit in your face … It's like a cage," said a 21-year old woman, who declined to be named.
In September, a Nigerian woman was killed by a man who refused to pay for sex, Russian police said.
The Nigerian embassy later identified her as 22-year-old Alifat Momoh, who had come to Russia from Nigeria with a fan ID.
Russian police said 1,863 Nigerians who entered the country with fan IDs had not left by January 1, the date when the IDs expired.
Kenny Kehindo, who works with several Moscow NGOs to help sex trafficking victims, estimated that more than 2,000 Nigerian women were brought in on fan IDs.
Neither Russian police nor the Nigerian embassy in Moscow replied to requests for comment. A Nigerian Foreign Ministry spokesman also did not respond to text messages and phone calls requesting comment.
"Many are still in slavery," said Mr Kehindo.
He said he had helped about 40 women return to Nigeria.
He called for more cooperation between the authorities and anti-trafficking NGOs during major sporting events — including at the 2022 Qatar World, where a fan ID system was also being considered.
Anti-slavery group Alternativa said its helpline had fielded calls from Nigerian women held in St Petersburg and other World Cup host cities.
While a prosecution has been launched in Ms Obuson's case, police have been unable to act against suspected traffickers in other cases due to a lack of evidence.
"A lot of girls are still out there," said Ms Obuson.
Reuters
Related stories: The illegal sex trafficking trail between Nigeria and Europe
Video - Nigerian women trafficked to Europe for prostitution at 'crisis level'
Nigeria's international sex-trafficking ring
She arrived in the country on a fan ID, which allowed visa-free entry to World Cup spectators with match tickets but did not permit them to work.
Despite that, Ms Obuson said she had hoped to work as a shop assistant to provide for her two-year-old daughter and younger siblings back in Nigeria.
However, she said, she was locked in a flat on the outskirts of Moscow and forced into sex work along with 11 other Nigerian women.
They were supervised by a madam, also from Nigeria.
She said the madam confiscated her passport and told her she'd only get it back once she worked off a fictional debt of $50,000.
Ms Obuson told her story to a rare English-speaking client, who then informed anti-slavery activists, who later rescued her.
According to her lawyer, and statements from prosecutors, two Nigerians were arrested and charged with human trafficking after a sting operation in which they agreed to sell Ms Obuson for two million roubles (about $43,000) to a police officer posing as a client.
'They spit in your face'
Ms Obuson's case is not isolated. Reuters met with eight Nigerian women aged between 16 and 22 who said they were brought into Russia on fan IDs and forced into sex work.
All said they had endured violence.
"They don't give you food for days, they slap you, they beat you, they spit in your face … It's like a cage," said a 21-year old woman, who declined to be named.
In September, a Nigerian woman was killed by a man who refused to pay for sex, Russian police said.
The Nigerian embassy later identified her as 22-year-old Alifat Momoh, who had come to Russia from Nigeria with a fan ID.
Russian police said 1,863 Nigerians who entered the country with fan IDs had not left by January 1, the date when the IDs expired.
Kenny Kehindo, who works with several Moscow NGOs to help sex trafficking victims, estimated that more than 2,000 Nigerian women were brought in on fan IDs.
Neither Russian police nor the Nigerian embassy in Moscow replied to requests for comment. A Nigerian Foreign Ministry spokesman also did not respond to text messages and phone calls requesting comment.
"Many are still in slavery," said Mr Kehindo.
He said he had helped about 40 women return to Nigeria.
He called for more cooperation between the authorities and anti-trafficking NGOs during major sporting events — including at the 2022 Qatar World, where a fan ID system was also being considered.
Anti-slavery group Alternativa said its helpline had fielded calls from Nigerian women held in St Petersburg and other World Cup host cities.
While a prosecution has been launched in Ms Obuson's case, police have been unable to act against suspected traffickers in other cases due to a lack of evidence.
"A lot of girls are still out there," said Ms Obuson.
Reuters
Related stories: The illegal sex trafficking trail between Nigeria and Europe
Video - Nigerian women trafficked to Europe for prostitution at 'crisis level'
Nigeria's international sex-trafficking ring
Tuesday, January 29, 2019
Gang charged with sex trafficking girls from Nigeria arrested in Italy
Sicilian authorities have made a series of arrests after a suspected sex trafficking ring was believed to have forced at least 15 Nigerian girls into prostitution in Italy.
Among those arrested were two Nigerian women, Rita Ihama, 38, and Monica Onaigfohe, aged 20, who police believe organised the trafficking of the women from Libya to Italy. An Italian national, Giovanni Buscemi, was also arrested on suspicion of helping facilitate the trafficking and exploitation of the girls.
Prosecutors believe the group of young women were lured from Nigeria with the promise of work in Italy. They say before they left their homes they were made to undergo traditional oath-taking ceremonies involving complicated and frightening rituals. The use of “juju” ceremonies in the trafficking of women from Nigeria to Europe are widespread and have been found to have a profound psychological impact on victims.
“On arrival in Italy, the women [say they] were forced into prostitution and told they must pay back the cost of their travel to Italy,” said Giovannella Scaminaci, deputy chief prosecutor in Messina, who led the operation. She said that sex trafficking operations between Nigeria, Libya and Italy are highly organised and continue despite recent attempts to stem the flow of migration from north Africa to Europe.
“There is an industry in the exploitation of girls from the age of 14 who have all become terrorised and controlled through the use of these juju ceremonies,” she says.
Yesterday, Sicilian prosecutors in Catania also arrested 19 Nigerians suspected of belonging to the Supreme Vikings Confraternity, an organised crime group operational across Sicily. The men are accused of drug smuggling and the rape and sexual assault of Nigerian women in Cara di Mineo, one of Italy’s largest reception centres for refugees. Prosecutors told the Guardian that they were considering the possibility that the men arrested were raping women at the centre “with the aim of subjugating them and preparing them for prostitution’’.
About 16,000 Nigerian women arrived in Italy from Libya between 2016-2017. According to the UN’s International Office for Migration (IOM) more than 80% of them were victims of trafficking, destined for a life of forced prostitution on street corners and in brothels across Italy and Europe.
In recent weeks hundreds of people have been removed from reception centres across Italy as part of the populist government’s hardline immigration measures.
The moves come as a part of a concerted push to implement the “Salvini decree” – named after Italy’s interior minister Matteo Salvini. It abolishes humanitarian protection for those not eligible for refugee status, and was passed by the Italian government last year.
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As a result hundreds of asylum seekers are now at risk of homelessness. NGOs and aid agencies, including the Red Cross, have warned that victims of sex trafficking are among those evicted.
“If this is true then the decree has been misinterpreted by local authorities,” says Scaminaci. “Nigerian women victims of sex trafficking must always be granted a humanitarian permit or a refugee status because of the consequences they could face if deported back in Nigeria.”
Last December, Blessing, a 31-year-old Nigerian woman who was trafficked into prostitution in Italy, said she had been removed from a reception centre in Isola di Capo Rizzuto, in Calabria.
“When the police came to tell us that we couldn’t stay there any more, I couldn’t believe my ears,” she said. “They took all of our belongings and escorted us out. There was a young girl in our group. This is outrageous. I have a legal permit to stay. And soon I may not have a roof over my head. I’m really frightened.”
Father Enzo Volpe, a Salesian priest in Palermo who has been providing assistance to Nigerian women for seven years, says that the clearing of reception centres is likely to increase the risk of further trafficking and exploitation.
“Leaving these girls in the street, victims of sex trafficking, is not only inhumane, it also means facilitating the work of criminal organisations,” he said. “With no protection, these girls risk becoming easy prey.”
The Guardian
Related stories: 20,000 Nigerian girls trafficked to Mali for prostitution
The illegal sex trafficking trail between Nigeria and Europe
Video - Nigerian women trafficked to Europe for prostitution at 'crisis level'
Among those arrested were two Nigerian women, Rita Ihama, 38, and Monica Onaigfohe, aged 20, who police believe organised the trafficking of the women from Libya to Italy. An Italian national, Giovanni Buscemi, was also arrested on suspicion of helping facilitate the trafficking and exploitation of the girls.
Prosecutors believe the group of young women were lured from Nigeria with the promise of work in Italy. They say before they left their homes they were made to undergo traditional oath-taking ceremonies involving complicated and frightening rituals. The use of “juju” ceremonies in the trafficking of women from Nigeria to Europe are widespread and have been found to have a profound psychological impact on victims.
“On arrival in Italy, the women [say they] were forced into prostitution and told they must pay back the cost of their travel to Italy,” said Giovannella Scaminaci, deputy chief prosecutor in Messina, who led the operation. She said that sex trafficking operations between Nigeria, Libya and Italy are highly organised and continue despite recent attempts to stem the flow of migration from north Africa to Europe.
“There is an industry in the exploitation of girls from the age of 14 who have all become terrorised and controlled through the use of these juju ceremonies,” she says.
Yesterday, Sicilian prosecutors in Catania also arrested 19 Nigerians suspected of belonging to the Supreme Vikings Confraternity, an organised crime group operational across Sicily. The men are accused of drug smuggling and the rape and sexual assault of Nigerian women in Cara di Mineo, one of Italy’s largest reception centres for refugees. Prosecutors told the Guardian that they were considering the possibility that the men arrested were raping women at the centre “with the aim of subjugating them and preparing them for prostitution’’.
About 16,000 Nigerian women arrived in Italy from Libya between 2016-2017. According to the UN’s International Office for Migration (IOM) more than 80% of them were victims of trafficking, destined for a life of forced prostitution on street corners and in brothels across Italy and Europe.
In recent weeks hundreds of people have been removed from reception centres across Italy as part of the populist government’s hardline immigration measures.
The moves come as a part of a concerted push to implement the “Salvini decree” – named after Italy’s interior minister Matteo Salvini. It abolishes humanitarian protection for those not eligible for refugee status, and was passed by the Italian government last year.
Advertisement
As a result hundreds of asylum seekers are now at risk of homelessness. NGOs and aid agencies, including the Red Cross, have warned that victims of sex trafficking are among those evicted.
“If this is true then the decree has been misinterpreted by local authorities,” says Scaminaci. “Nigerian women victims of sex trafficking must always be granted a humanitarian permit or a refugee status because of the consequences they could face if deported back in Nigeria.”
Last December, Blessing, a 31-year-old Nigerian woman who was trafficked into prostitution in Italy, said she had been removed from a reception centre in Isola di Capo Rizzuto, in Calabria.
“When the police came to tell us that we couldn’t stay there any more, I couldn’t believe my ears,” she said. “They took all of our belongings and escorted us out. There was a young girl in our group. This is outrageous. I have a legal permit to stay. And soon I may not have a roof over my head. I’m really frightened.”
Father Enzo Volpe, a Salesian priest in Palermo who has been providing assistance to Nigerian women for seven years, says that the clearing of reception centres is likely to increase the risk of further trafficking and exploitation.
“Leaving these girls in the street, victims of sex trafficking, is not only inhumane, it also means facilitating the work of criminal organisations,” he said. “With no protection, these girls risk becoming easy prey.”
The Guardian
Related stories: 20,000 Nigerian girls trafficked to Mali for prostitution
The illegal sex trafficking trail between Nigeria and Europe
Video - Nigerian women trafficked to Europe for prostitution at 'crisis level'
Wednesday, January 23, 2019
20,000 Nigerian girls trafficked to Mali for prostitution
Nigeria's anti-trafficking agency says it has received concrete intelligence that around 20,000 Nigerian girls have been forced into prostitution in Mali.
Many of the girls are working in hotels and nightclubs after being sold to prostitution rings by human traffickers, according to a fact-finding mission carried out by the agency in collaboration with Malian authorities in December.
NAPTIP's Arinze Osakwe told CNN most of the girls said they were lured by human traffickers who promised them employment in Malaysia.
"The new trend is that they told them they were taking them to Malaysia and they found themselves in Mali. They told them they would be working in five-star restaurants where they would be paid $700 per month," Osakwe, who was part of an earlier NAPTIP rescue mission, said.
Some of the girls had been sold as sex slaves in gold mining camps in northern parts of Mali, he said.
Officials from the agency under Operation Timbuktu rescued 104 Nigerian girls from three brothels in Bamako, Mali's capital in 2011.
They were forced to become sex workers in mining communities in northern Mali.
"We brought back 104 girls just from three ramshackle brothels, and those were the ones that were even willing to come. They were mostly between the age of 13 and 25, and they had been trapped in the country for many years," Osakwe said.
"Since then, we have been working with local authorities and receiving reports from the Nigerian embassy in Bamako that the number of Nigerian girls trafficked to Mali has spiked tremendously," he said.
The agency said it is working with Malian authorities, the International Organization for Migration and National Emergency Management Agency to send the girls back to Nigeria.
Every year, tens of thousands of Nigerians are trafficked illegally to destinations abroad especially Europe.
Around 97 percent of victims are women, and 77 percent have been sexually exploited by their traffickers, according to IOM estimates.
CNN
Related stories: The illegal sex trafficking trail between Nigeria and Europe
Video - Nigerian women trafficked to Europe for prostitution at 'crisis level'
Many of the girls are working in hotels and nightclubs after being sold to prostitution rings by human traffickers, according to a fact-finding mission carried out by the agency in collaboration with Malian authorities in December.
NAPTIP's Arinze Osakwe told CNN most of the girls said they were lured by human traffickers who promised them employment in Malaysia.
"The new trend is that they told them they were taking them to Malaysia and they found themselves in Mali. They told them they would be working in five-star restaurants where they would be paid $700 per month," Osakwe, who was part of an earlier NAPTIP rescue mission, said.
Some of the girls had been sold as sex slaves in gold mining camps in northern parts of Mali, he said.
Officials from the agency under Operation Timbuktu rescued 104 Nigerian girls from three brothels in Bamako, Mali's capital in 2011.
They were forced to become sex workers in mining communities in northern Mali.
"We brought back 104 girls just from three ramshackle brothels, and those were the ones that were even willing to come. They were mostly between the age of 13 and 25, and they had been trapped in the country for many years," Osakwe said.
"Since then, we have been working with local authorities and receiving reports from the Nigerian embassy in Bamako that the number of Nigerian girls trafficked to Mali has spiked tremendously," he said.
The agency said it is working with Malian authorities, the International Organization for Migration and National Emergency Management Agency to send the girls back to Nigeria.
Every year, tens of thousands of Nigerians are trafficked illegally to destinations abroad especially Europe.
Around 97 percent of victims are women, and 77 percent have been sexually exploited by their traffickers, according to IOM estimates.
CNN
Related stories: The illegal sex trafficking trail between Nigeria and Europe
Video - Nigerian women trafficked to Europe for prostitution at 'crisis level'
Tuesday, September 18, 2018
The battle to dispel black magic behind sex slavery in Nigeria
BENIN CITY, Nigeria, Sept 18 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - When Florence broke out in lesions on her face, she was convinced it was because she had crossed a black magic curse cast on her as she left Nigeria to work in Russia's sex trade.
Florence is one of a rising number of women lured in recent years from impoverished lives in southern Nigeria to Europe with the promise of lucrative work, many ending up selling sex.
Although some of the women knowingly entered into contracts for sex work, few realised they would be trapped like slaves for years, with their traffickers colluding with madams to ensure black magic curses, or juju, stopped them escaping.
For belief in juju to kill or maim is deeply rooted in Edo state, the home of about nine in every 10 Nigerian women trafficked to Europe, according to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNDOC), with a battle now waging to end witchcraft's hold over trafficking victims.
Florence, 24, said she had not known she was headed for sex work six years ago when she agreed to a loan to fund a trip to work in Russia in a deal brokered by a pastor from her church.
Before leaving her home in Benin, the capital city of Edo, she was taken to a juju priest who used her hair and clothing to make a spell to bind her to her traffickers then she was taken to Lagos where she was raped before being sent to Russia.
"They took my pants. They took my bra. They took my hair from my armpits and also from my private parts," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
"(The madam) used those items she took from me to take as vengeance against me."
She was convinced that juju was to blame for facial lesions that erupted in 2016 after she refused to give her captors any more money after paying them 45,000 euro ($53,000) and fled back to Nigeria.
SPELLS AND CURSES
Florence's fear of black magic if she disobeyed her traffickers, went to the police or failed to pay her debt is typical for many women trafficked from Nigeria, experts say.
Many end up enslaved after signing a contract to finance their move, leaving them with debts that spiral into thousands of dollars and take years to pay off.
Between 2014 and 2016, there was an almost 10-fold increase in the number of Nigerian women arriving in Italy by boat - about 11,000 - with at least four in five becoming prostitutes, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
But law enforcement officials and campaigners are hoping the intervention this year by Oba Ewuare II, leader of the historic kingdom of Benin, could end this burgeoning trade.
In March, the Oba summoned the kingdom's juju priests to a ceremony at his palace and dismissed the curses they had placed on trafficking victims - and cast a fresh curse on anyone who went against his order.
Since then, anecdotal evidence from people involved in the trade suggests the trafficking has slowed although it is too soon for firm data to be collated.
Patience, 42, who has supplemented her income as a hairdresser by selling girls into overseas sex work for about 16 years, said the leader's ceremony had stopped the trafficking.
"I didn't hear directly from his mouth but, through the radio and television. The Oba has stopped everything," Patience told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in her home in Benin, where she lives with her husband and four children.
"Whenever I go out, I meet girls who beg me to take them to Europe but I refuse because I don't want to die. Everybody is afraid."
David Edebiri, the second highest ranking chief in Benin, said he believes the Oba's involvement, inspired by repeated bad press in the international media, has reduced trafficking and could help bring more traffickers to justice as many women involved were previously too afraid of juju rituals to testify.
"It has been very, very effective and that if even anything is going on now, it must be a very minute dimension. Not as it was before (when) it was becoming everybody's game," he said.
ESCAPING POVERTY
But with unemployment in Edo at 20 percent, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, women especially are hard pressed to find work. Living standards are low with large families to feed and few outlets to earn.
Nigeria has the most extreme poor people in the world, according to The World Poverty Clock, with almost half of its 180 million population living on less than $2 a day.
So many women, like Betty, say the crackdown on traffickers taking girls for sex work in other countries - often with the knowledge of their families - is unlikely to stop the industry.
When Betty touched down in Nigeria from Belgium two years ago, she knelt on the tarmac, raised her hands, and thanked God she was home after five years of being trapped in sex work repaying debts.
Now Betty, 29 and single, can't wait to get back to Europe.
She has not found work since returning to Benin. She avoids her mother, a fish seller, who is distraught about her daughter's fall from grace.
"When I was in Europe, I was like a celebrity ... I did a lot of things for my family," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation, recalling life before she was deported from Belgium.
"I was their hope, their joy. I was giving my parents feeding money. My elder brother's children, the four of them, I was also paying their school fees," said Betty from the one-bedroom home she shares with her brother's seven-strong family.
She said it was now difficult to stay in Nigeria,
"If I have my way, I will definitely go back," said Betty, who paid about 50,000 euros ($58,000) to a Nigerian madam in Europe over five years to work in the sex business.
Betty, who did not want to reveal her surname, said she earned thousands of euros in Europe, selling her body several times a day from street corners and a rented flat.
DANGEROUS WORK
It came with its risks.
She injured her back after jumping out of a speeding car to escape one punter. Her flatmate disappeared after going to meet a client.
Florence also spoke of the dangers involved, recalling arriving to meet a client and finding 15 men waiting and always checking out which doors and windows could be escape routes.
But some women and their families remain willing to take the risks for the money that can support whole families in Nigeria.
Victor Irorere has two daughters, aged 18 and 21, who have both lived in Europe for at least four years and he knows work "with their bodies" but he relies on their earnings.
"They help me ... They often send money," said Irorere, 47, a bricklayer and father of 11, as he waited outside a juju priest's shrine in Benin, a live chicken struggling in his hand, to pay for a good luck spell for his daughters.
Kokunre Eghafona, a professor of sociology at the University of Benin who researches human trafficking, said the Oba's curse was not stopping but just changing patterns in the sex trafficking trade.
With traffickers and juju priests terrified of the misfortunes that might befall them as a result of the Oba's curse, girls and young women are instead raising their own funds to finance their journeys to Europe and beyond.
The United Nations this year recorded a sharp fall in the number of migrants reaching Europe by sea, with the biggest change in the once-busy channel between North Africa and Italy.
But experts said this was because traffickers have found a new market.
Middle Eastern countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE and Oman, are now the new destinations of choice for Nigerians selling sex, according to Nduka Nwanwenne, Benin zonal commander of Nigeria's anti-trafficking agency (NAPTIP).
He said many of the girls are tricked into believing that they will be going to work as house maids and nurses, only to be forced into sex work, while others are going willingly.
"But you know when it comes to willingness, a victim is still a victim. There are some that don't know the extent of what they are going to do there. They don't know the extent of exploitation," Nwanwenne told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
($1 = 0.8556 euros)
Video - Nigerian women trafficked to Europe for prostitution at 'crisis level'
Florence is one of a rising number of women lured in recent years from impoverished lives in southern Nigeria to Europe with the promise of lucrative work, many ending up selling sex.
Although some of the women knowingly entered into contracts for sex work, few realised they would be trapped like slaves for years, with their traffickers colluding with madams to ensure black magic curses, or juju, stopped them escaping.
For belief in juju to kill or maim is deeply rooted in Edo state, the home of about nine in every 10 Nigerian women trafficked to Europe, according to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNDOC), with a battle now waging to end witchcraft's hold over trafficking victims.
Florence, 24, said she had not known she was headed for sex work six years ago when she agreed to a loan to fund a trip to work in Russia in a deal brokered by a pastor from her church.
Before leaving her home in Benin, the capital city of Edo, she was taken to a juju priest who used her hair and clothing to make a spell to bind her to her traffickers then she was taken to Lagos where she was raped before being sent to Russia.
"They took my pants. They took my bra. They took my hair from my armpits and also from my private parts," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
"(The madam) used those items she took from me to take as vengeance against me."
She was convinced that juju was to blame for facial lesions that erupted in 2016 after she refused to give her captors any more money after paying them 45,000 euro ($53,000) and fled back to Nigeria.
SPELLS AND CURSES
Florence's fear of black magic if she disobeyed her traffickers, went to the police or failed to pay her debt is typical for many women trafficked from Nigeria, experts say.
Many end up enslaved after signing a contract to finance their move, leaving them with debts that spiral into thousands of dollars and take years to pay off.
Between 2014 and 2016, there was an almost 10-fold increase in the number of Nigerian women arriving in Italy by boat - about 11,000 - with at least four in five becoming prostitutes, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
But law enforcement officials and campaigners are hoping the intervention this year by Oba Ewuare II, leader of the historic kingdom of Benin, could end this burgeoning trade.
In March, the Oba summoned the kingdom's juju priests to a ceremony at his palace and dismissed the curses they had placed on trafficking victims - and cast a fresh curse on anyone who went against his order.
Since then, anecdotal evidence from people involved in the trade suggests the trafficking has slowed although it is too soon for firm data to be collated.
Patience, 42, who has supplemented her income as a hairdresser by selling girls into overseas sex work for about 16 years, said the leader's ceremony had stopped the trafficking.
"I didn't hear directly from his mouth but, through the radio and television. The Oba has stopped everything," Patience told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in her home in Benin, where she lives with her husband and four children.
"Whenever I go out, I meet girls who beg me to take them to Europe but I refuse because I don't want to die. Everybody is afraid."
David Edebiri, the second highest ranking chief in Benin, said he believes the Oba's involvement, inspired by repeated bad press in the international media, has reduced trafficking and could help bring more traffickers to justice as many women involved were previously too afraid of juju rituals to testify.
"It has been very, very effective and that if even anything is going on now, it must be a very minute dimension. Not as it was before (when) it was becoming everybody's game," he said.
ESCAPING POVERTY
But with unemployment in Edo at 20 percent, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, women especially are hard pressed to find work. Living standards are low with large families to feed and few outlets to earn.
Nigeria has the most extreme poor people in the world, according to The World Poverty Clock, with almost half of its 180 million population living on less than $2 a day.
So many women, like Betty, say the crackdown on traffickers taking girls for sex work in other countries - often with the knowledge of their families - is unlikely to stop the industry.
When Betty touched down in Nigeria from Belgium two years ago, she knelt on the tarmac, raised her hands, and thanked God she was home after five years of being trapped in sex work repaying debts.
Now Betty, 29 and single, can't wait to get back to Europe.
She has not found work since returning to Benin. She avoids her mother, a fish seller, who is distraught about her daughter's fall from grace.
"When I was in Europe, I was like a celebrity ... I did a lot of things for my family," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation, recalling life before she was deported from Belgium.
"I was their hope, their joy. I was giving my parents feeding money. My elder brother's children, the four of them, I was also paying their school fees," said Betty from the one-bedroom home she shares with her brother's seven-strong family.
She said it was now difficult to stay in Nigeria,
"If I have my way, I will definitely go back," said Betty, who paid about 50,000 euros ($58,000) to a Nigerian madam in Europe over five years to work in the sex business.
Betty, who did not want to reveal her surname, said she earned thousands of euros in Europe, selling her body several times a day from street corners and a rented flat.
DANGEROUS WORK
It came with its risks.
She injured her back after jumping out of a speeding car to escape one punter. Her flatmate disappeared after going to meet a client.
Florence also spoke of the dangers involved, recalling arriving to meet a client and finding 15 men waiting and always checking out which doors and windows could be escape routes.
But some women and their families remain willing to take the risks for the money that can support whole families in Nigeria.
Victor Irorere has two daughters, aged 18 and 21, who have both lived in Europe for at least four years and he knows work "with their bodies" but he relies on their earnings.
"They help me ... They often send money," said Irorere, 47, a bricklayer and father of 11, as he waited outside a juju priest's shrine in Benin, a live chicken struggling in his hand, to pay for a good luck spell for his daughters.
Kokunre Eghafona, a professor of sociology at the University of Benin who researches human trafficking, said the Oba's curse was not stopping but just changing patterns in the sex trafficking trade.
With traffickers and juju priests terrified of the misfortunes that might befall them as a result of the Oba's curse, girls and young women are instead raising their own funds to finance their journeys to Europe and beyond.
The United Nations this year recorded a sharp fall in the number of migrants reaching Europe by sea, with the biggest change in the once-busy channel between North Africa and Italy.
But experts said this was because traffickers have found a new market.
Middle Eastern countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE and Oman, are now the new destinations of choice for Nigerians selling sex, according to Nduka Nwanwenne, Benin zonal commander of Nigeria's anti-trafficking agency (NAPTIP).
He said many of the girls are tricked into believing that they will be going to work as house maids and nurses, only to be forced into sex work, while others are going willingly.
"But you know when it comes to willingness, a victim is still a victim. There are some that don't know the extent of what they are going to do there. They don't know the extent of exploitation," Nwanwenne told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
($1 = 0.8556 euros)
Related stories: The illegal sex trafficking trail between Nigeria and Europe
Monday, September 3, 2018
Video - Germany, Nigeria vow to combat illegal migration
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari have affirmed their commitment to fighting illegal migration. The German Chancellor met with President Buhari on Friday, in the last leg of her trip to three African countries. Speaking at a joint news conference in Abuja---Merkel emphasised the need to create economic opportunities for young Nigerians to reduce their motivation for leaving their home country. There are currently around 8,600 Nigerians in Germany, who have been denied asylum. Germany wants those who are rejected to return to Nigeria.
Wednesday, August 29, 2018
Video -Theresa May to discuss trade, human trafficking with Buhari
British Prime Minister is continuing her tour of Africa in Nigeria. Aside from discussions on trade, May is set to tackle the issue of human trafficking with President Muhammadu Buhari. She will also meet with survivors of slavery in Lagos. May is due to announce a new joint project with France to strengthen Niger and Nigeria's borders. She has already pledged 5 billion dollars towards African economies.
Monday, August 13, 2018
Video - Nigerians seek to end treacherous illegal immigration route from Libya to Europe
Nigeria is reported to have the highest number of illegal Migrants in Libya -- who are seeking to cross the Mediterranean Sea into Europe. Most of them are young people hoping to get a better life in Europe. Although many of those who have been repatriated tell of harrowing experiences, there are still a number of Nigerians who are ready to take the risky journey. CGTN's Deji Badmus has been speaking to a returnee who is now one of those trying to put an end to the trend of irregular migration in Nigeria.
Friday, July 6, 2018
British Nigerian jailed for trafficking women
Josephine Iyamu, 51, was sentenced to 14 years in prison, 13 years for the slavery offences and 1 year for perverting the course of justice, to be served consecutively. She will serve at least half of that in prison, the rest on the licence.
Iyamu is the first British national to be convicted under the Modern Slavery Act for offences committed overseas, UK’s National Crime Agency said in a statement on its website.
In July 2017, The National Crime Agency’s (NCA) investigation into Iyamu began following information from the German Police who had identified one of her victims working in a brothel in Trier.
Investigations showed that she had positioned herself as a rich and powerful woman in Nigeria and had launched a political campaign through which she claimed she wanted to empower women and families.
Iyamu recruited vulnerable women from rural villages and promised them a better life in Europe but was arrested by NCA officers after landing at Heathrow airport on a flight from Lagos on 24 August 2017.
Whilst in prison, she made attempts to trace and intimidate the victims and their families together with bribing law enforcement officers into proving her innocence.
On 28 June 2018 at Birmingham Crown Court, she was found guilty of five counts of facilitating the travel of another person with a view to exploitation and one count of attempting to prevent the course of justice.
The NCA’s financial investigation into Iyamu’s illicit earnings and assets continues.
Speaking as he sentenced Iyamu, Judge Richard Bond described Iyamu’s victims as “naive and trusting women who only wanted to make theirs and their families lives better,” and said she had seen them as “commodities…to earn you money.” During their journey to Europe, he said they had been “exposed to a real and significant risk of death.”
Kay Mellor, operations manager at the NCA, said Iyamu specifically targeted vulnerable women and put them through the most horrific experience for her own financial gain.
“She thought living in a different country to were her crimes were committed would protect her. Working closely with our Nigerian and German colleagues however we were able to bring her to justice right here in the UK.
Mellor added that Iyamu’s expenditure on travel and properties far outweighed her legitimate earnings as a nurse and investigation into her finances is ongoing.
National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) Director-General, Dame Julie Okah-Donli said: “As part of our renewed determination to root out human trafficking from Nigeria, we have strengthened our networking and collaboration with the relevant sister law enforcement agencies around the world. This simply means that there no more a hiding place for any human trafficker around the world.”
He further commended the officers of NAPTIP and the partners in NCA for the heart-warming development.
Monday, June 18, 2018
Nigerian Human traffickers operating at 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia
Weeks before the 2018 FIFA World Cup was due to kick off in Russia, a woman met Blessing and Mfon at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in the southern Nigeria city of Uyo. The two young sisters had gone there to watch Nigeria play Spain’s Atletico Madrid in a warmup match ahead of the global soccer fiesta in which this West African nation is proud to participate, and the woman, in her 40s, seemed to be a devoted fan.
“We sat beside her during the match, and we were all analyzing the performance of the [Nigerian] team together,” Blessing, who is 19 and the older of the two siblings, told The Daily Beast. “After the match, she asked us if we would like to go watch the World Cup in Russia and work there after the tournament.”
Russia is open to foreigners with just a single match ticket and a FAN ID, which is available online to confirmed ticket holders. Once you’re in, you can stay legally until July 25, which is 10 days after the end of the competition.
While this is good news for soccer fans visiting the country, it is equally an opportunity for traffickers to do big business.
Blessing and Mfon were told their travel to Russia would be taken care of and that they would get jobs in Moscow as social workers for a nongovernmental organization dealing with traumatized athletes once the World Cup was over. The girls were told it would take about six months to pay back the cost of the journey to Russia, put at $20,000 each, after which they could keep all the money they made.
“We took her to our parents, and she told them the same thing,” Blessing said. “She said she had slots for 20 Nigerian girls and was looking to take girls from all regions of Nigeria with a passion for sports.”
No one suspected the woman was a human trafficker because she showed documents appearing to link her to a number of humanitarian organizations in Russia, and she hailed from the same wider community as the family of Blessing and Mfon, which gave the parents of the girls the impression that she wouldn’t hurt her kindred.
“We sat beside her during the match, and we were all analyzing the performance of the [Nigerian] team together,” Blessing, who is 19 and the older of the two siblings, told The Daily Beast. “After the match, she asked us if we would like to go watch the World Cup in Russia and work there after the tournament.”
Russia is open to foreigners with just a single match ticket and a FAN ID, which is available online to confirmed ticket holders. Once you’re in, you can stay legally until July 25, which is 10 days after the end of the competition.
While this is good news for soccer fans visiting the country, it is equally an opportunity for traffickers to do big business.
Blessing and Mfon were told their travel to Russia would be taken care of and that they would get jobs in Moscow as social workers for a nongovernmental organization dealing with traumatized athletes once the World Cup was over. The girls were told it would take about six months to pay back the cost of the journey to Russia, put at $20,000 each, after which they could keep all the money they made.
“We took her to our parents, and she told them the same thing,” Blessing said. “She said she had slots for 20 Nigerian girls and was looking to take girls from all regions of Nigeria with a passion for sports.”
No one suspected the woman was a human trafficker because she showed documents appearing to link her to a number of humanitarian organizations in Russia, and she hailed from the same wider community as the family of Blessing and Mfon, which gave the parents of the girls the impression that she wouldn’t hurt her kindred.
Tuesday, June 12, 2018
World Cup child trafficking bid caught by Nigerian authorities
Nigerian authorities say they have rescued nine young girls and one boy who were being trafficked to Russia.
Five suspects, including a policeman and a quarantine officer, were arrested for allegedly facilitating their travel, the government agency fighting trafficking says.
The victims were found while trying to board a plane from Lagos to Moscow.
They had football supporter ID cards in order to look as though they were fans heading to the World Cup in Russia.
The children, who were unaccompanied, are now in a shelter for victims of trafficking which run by the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (Naptip).
Five other potential victims, also children, were stopped from boarding a flight to Russia when staff noticed they had one-way tickets.
Criminals have been pressurising young Nigerians and their parents to take advantage of the World Cup to get Russian visas, Naptip says.
It warns that, once out of the country, the victims would be exploited by traffickers.
Many victims of trafficking from Africa to Europe come from Nigeria.
According to the UN's agency for migration, most of the potential sex trafficking victims arriving in Italy by sea are Nigerian.
Five suspects, including a policeman and a quarantine officer, were arrested for allegedly facilitating their travel, the government agency fighting trafficking says.
The victims were found while trying to board a plane from Lagos to Moscow.
They had football supporter ID cards in order to look as though they were fans heading to the World Cup in Russia.
The children, who were unaccompanied, are now in a shelter for victims of trafficking which run by the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (Naptip).
Five other potential victims, also children, were stopped from boarding a flight to Russia when staff noticed they had one-way tickets.
Criminals have been pressurising young Nigerians and their parents to take advantage of the World Cup to get Russian visas, Naptip says.
It warns that, once out of the country, the victims would be exploited by traffickers.
Many victims of trafficking from Africa to Europe come from Nigeria.
According to the UN's agency for migration, most of the potential sex trafficking victims arriving in Italy by sea are Nigerian.
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