A plot to traffic women from Nigeria to Russia during the world cup for sex work has been exposed by Nigerian officials with the support of anti-slavery activists.
Nigerian authorities said their investigations showed that preparations have been ongoing to send these women to Russia for the football tournament and exploit them.
Russian officials had announced plans to allow spectators into the country for the global showpiece with just a ticket and a fan pass. The traffickers were intending to exploit this policy to traffic women from Nigeria.
Visa-free entry was piloted during the Confederations Cup last year and will apply to the entire World Cup, which starts on June 14 and ends on July 15.
Julia Siluyanova of Russian anti-slavery group Alternativa is quoted by Thomson Reuters Foundation to have said that the policy by the Moscow was “a real present for traffickers.”
“We discovered that about 30 victims (Nigerian women) were brought to the Confederations Cup in Moscow last year … we expect to face the same problem during the World Cup this year,” Siluyanova added.
Nigeria’s anti-trafficking agency NAPTIP has said that the human traffickers had planned to take advantage of the tournament, with the head of public enlightenment at the agency, Arinze Orakwu saying that efforts are ongoing to deal with the issue.
“If we alert Nigerians, we disrupt them (traffickers) … and let them know that these plans are in the works,” Arinze Orakwu is quoted by Reuters to have said.
Source: Africafeeds.com
