President Olusegun Obasanjo promised on Tuesday that a law would soon be enacted prescribing heavy punishment for child and other human traffickers.
”I believe anti-child and human trafficking law will soon be out, and heavy punishment awaits those engaged in this nefarious act,” he said at a meeting with a group of children to mark Children’s Day in Nigeria.
In past years, several thousand Nigerian children and women have been trafficked by unscrupulous Nigerians who lure them with jobs and other attractions.
Most of those trafficked end up in foreign countries as domestics, prostitutes and criminals.
In the past four years, thousands of Nigerians, especially women, have been deported from Italy, Germany, Belgium, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and other countries either for immigration irregularities or for engaging in prostitution.
During the session, the children asked the Nigerian leader about his government programmes on education, power and health, and especially efforts to tackle malaria and HIV/Aids, two major killer diseases.
The children also held a mock parliamentary session during which they debated several national issues, including enactment into law of a Child Rights Bill passed recently by the National Assembly.
Obasanjo and his deputy, Atiku Abubakar, observed the session. – Sapa-AFP