• Criminals exploiting African migrants, EU envoy tells Nigeria
• Edo in talks with embassies to promote safe migration
Nigeria has called for global action to end illegal migration, just as the European Union Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Gautier Mignot, states that to protect migrants from criminal networks and break their business model, robust international cooperation in a whole-of-route approach is imperative.
Mignot spoke at the Joint Thematic Meeting Khartoum, Rabat and Niamey Process, themed, ‘Enhancing Prevention, Protection and Prosecution Frameworks in Combating Migrant Smuggling and Trafficking in Human Beings along African and European Routes’ held in Lagos yesterday. It was co-chaired by Nigeria and France.
He noted that over the past years, the Rabat, Khartoum, and Niamey Processes have been instrumental to fostering regional dialogue and cooperation among countries along the migration routes in the Euro-Africa space. Through workshops and policy dialogues funded by the European Union, these Processes have facilitated exchanges and collaborative efforts to combat migrant smuggling and trafficking in human beings.
According to him, addressing these challenges requires not only tackling criminal networks but also ensuring assistance to victims of trafficking and that migration is managed in an orderly, safe, regular and humane manner.
APC chairman and former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, represented by Federal Commissioner, National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), Tijani Aliyu Ahmed, raised the alarm over the surge in irregular migration, revealing that Nigeria received no fewer than 150 returnees every day, most rescued from trafficking and smuggling routes in North Africa.
According to Yilwatda, the figure reflects the scale of human suffering along irregular migration routes, noting that their stories are not statistics but testimonies of survival, courage, and hope.
Yilwatda, while lauding the Government of France and the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) for their support, urged countries to strengthen cross-border cooperation.
The Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, represented by Commissioner for the Ministry of Youth and Social Development, Mr Mobolaji Ogunlende, also emphasised the need for collaboration, stating that no country could tackle human trafficking and migrant smuggling on its own.
Meanwhile, Edo State Government has opened talks with various embassies to establish modalities and strategies aimed at reducing or completely eliminating irregular migration, while promoting safe migration practices.
The Director General of the Edo State Migration Agency, Lucky Agazuma, disclosed this during the premiere of the film “Cold Dishes” held in Benin City.
He emphasised the need for stakeholders to work together to end the scourge of irregular migration in Nigeria.
