Titi Abubakar
Daily Trust

Italy will deport 120 Nigerian women soon

KANO — About 120 illegal Nigerian immigrants mainly victims of human trafficking will be deported to Nigeria at the end of this month from Italy.

The wife of the Vice President, Hajiya Titi Atiku Abubakar disclosed this yesterday, during the opening ceremony of a two-day zonal awareness seminar organised by the Nigerian Immigration Service on human trafficking and child labour held in Kano.

She said that the Women Trafficking and Child Labour Eradication Foundation (WOTCLEF), received a letter from the Embassy of Nigeria in Rome, informing it of the plans by the Italian authorities to deport 120 illegal Nigerian immigrants.

She stated that in light of this heinous crime, WOTCLEF deemed it appropriate to come up with a harmonised law tagged "Trafficking In Persons (prohibited) Law Enforcement and Administration Act 2003" which establishes a National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in persons and other related matters.

"We are out to prosecute human traffickers. They should know that with the establishment of this national agency, their days are numbered. Whoever is caught will get life imprisonment without an option of fine," she admonished.

Titi Abubakar, who described human trafficking especially that of women and children as an international human rights violation, further pointed out that the neglect of children is widely perceived as the root cause of moral decadence.

The founder of WOTCLEFF then urged the immigration service in the country to scrutinise women and children at all borders to check the situation.