Tag / cronaca

by donnedibenincitypalermo

14/03/18 – VANGUARD NGR – Edo assembly passes bill to prohibit trafficking in persons

LINK: Edo assembly passes bill to prohibit trafficking in persons

The Edo House of Assembly on Wednesday passed a bill for a Law to prohibit trafficking in persons and also approved the establishment of a State Task Force against the practice.

The motion for the house to consider the bill was moved by Nosayaba Okunbor, member representing (APC, Orhionmwon East).

The motion was seconded by the Chief Whip, Osaigbovo Iyoha, member representing (APC, Oredo East) constituency.

The bill, made up of 80 sections, seeks the establishment of the Edo State task force against trafficking in persons.

According to the house, the appointment of members shall be by the governor and subject to the ratification of the house of assembly.

The secretary shall be appointed by the governor, from the Ministry of Justice or could be any practising lawyer in the state.

The bill stated that offenders shall be liable to not less than ve years imprisonment or an option of one of not less than one million nairas.

Mr Nosayaba Okunbor, member representing ( APC Orhionmwon East), however, pointed out that the Nigeria Police, the DSS and the NDLEA should not be included in the task force because of the clause mandating members of the task force to appear before the Parliament for screening.

The house unanimously adopted the bill.

The clerk of the house, Mr Eghe Otabor, thereafter, announced the third reading of the bill.

The speaker, Kabiru Adjoto, after the passage of the bill, directed that clean copies of the bill be sent to the governor for his assent.

 
by donnedibenincitypalermo

10/04/18 – ALTRAECONOMIA – Dalla Nigeria una speranza per le vittime di tratta

di 

La massima autorità religiosa del popolo Edo ha pronunciato un editto con cui annulla i riti juju che vincolano le ragazze ai trafficanti. Il messaggio è stato accolto con gioia anche in Italia, ma per portare a risultati concreti serve il supporto delle istituzioni

La speranza per migliaia di ragazze nigeriane costrette a prostituirsi sulle strade italiane passa dallo schermo di un telefonino. Un video, girato nel sud della Nigeria, mostra il rito celebrato da un’importante autorità religiosa locale che, nel corso di una solenne cerimonia, ha annullato i riti juju (o vodoo) che vincolano le giovani e giovanissime vittime di tratta alle maman (le donne che in Italia gestiscono le ragazze) e ai trafficanti. Un fatto che può sembrare confinato a un’area remota dell’Africa ma che invece -potenzialmente- può segnare una svolta positiva nella vita di tante giovani e giovanissime costrette a prostituirsi. Lo scorso 9 marzo, l’Oba Ewuare II (la massima autorità religiosa del popolo Edo che vive nel sud della Nigeria) ha emesso un editto con cui ha annullato i riti juju e, oltre a liberare le ragazze che oggi sono schiave dei trafficanti, l’Oba ha lanciato una maledizione sugli stregoni che, in futuro, useranno nuovamente questi riti per agevolare la tratta di giovani donne.

Tramite YouTube, chat e social network, la notizia è arrivata in un lampo anche in Italia dove, solo nel 2016, sono sbarcate circa 11mila donne d’origine nigeriana: secondo le stime dell’Oim (l’Organizzazione mondiale per le migrazioni), otto su dieci sono vittime di tratta e destinate alla prostituzione. Tuttavia, il messaggio dell’Oba non ha avuto per il momento effetti visibili sulle strade. “Il messaggio dell’Oba è arrivato in maniera chiara, ma avuto ripercussioni diverse sulle ragazze –spiega Matilde Bornati, operatrice dell’unità di strada del SED, il servizio anti-tratta di Caritas Ambrosiana e della cooperativa “Farsi Prossimo“-. Le donne che si trovano in strada, purtroppo, non hanno possibilità di scegliere. Hanno paura, si è inasprito il controllo e continuano a ricevere minacce dalle maman. Ad altre viene detto che il messaggio dell’Oba ha valore solo per le ragazze che vengono da quella regione e non da altre”. Diverso il discorso per le giovani che hanno già iniziato un percorso di fuoriuscita dalle reti della tratta: “Tra di loro il messaggio è stato accolto e metabolizzato più facilmente -riflette Sonia Rotolo, assistente sociale del SED-. Per loro è un potente messaggio di speranza”.

“Le ragazze con cui siamo in contatto sono entusiaste di questa notizia”, aggiunge Samuela Bruni, coordinatrice dell’unità di strada dell’associazione “On the road” attiva tra Marche e Abruzzo. “Ci sono state due ragazze che sono state cacciate di casa dalla maman, subito dopo l’editto dell’Oba, e che si sono rivolte a noi per chiedere aiuto. Ma a parte questo non ci sono stati particolari cambiamenti: le ragazze ne parlano molto tra loro, ma non abbiamo visto un calo nella loro presenza sulle strade”. Spezzare le catene che legano le ragazze ai loro sfruttatori, infatti, non è semplice. “Tutte le ragazze hanno apprezzato questa operazione, che è stata percepita come qualcosa di molto importante -spiega Valerio Pedroni, referente dell’area migranti per il CNCA Lombardia-. Il debito molto consistente da pagare, le minacce e il timore di ritorsione sulle famiglie rimaste in Nigeria rappresentano però ancora una morsa molto forte”.

La liberazione dal rito juju, è un fattore importante, ma non sufficiente. E che per concretizzarsi in un’effettiva liberazione delle giovani vittime di tratta necessita un robusto supporto da parte delle istituzioni. “Alcune maman hanno lasciato le ragazze libere e sono venute da noi a chiedere aiuto. Altre ancora vogliono lasciare la strada –spiega Osas Egbon Osariemen, presidente dell’associazione “Donne di Benin City” con sede a Palermo-. Ma mancano strutture di accoglienza, in modo particolare per le minorenni”.  Una richiesta rilanciata anche da Piam Onlus, associazione con sede ad Asti e attiva in Piemonte: “Molte ragazze che hanno abbandonato i CAS (centri d’accoglienza straordinaria per i richiedenti asilo, ndr) volontariamente o perché obbligate, adesso vogliono poter rientrare nell’accoglienza. Si sentono libere dal ricatto juju e non vogliono continuare a prostituirsi. Servono più posti in pronta accoglienza per queste ragazze o provvedere alla loro riammissione nel circuito di accoglienza”.

Le principali associazioni impegnate nella lotta alla tratta di esseri umani si sono date appuntamento per sabato 14 aprile, nella parrocchia di Santa Chiara a Palermo. Sarà un momento di festa, ma anche occasione per confronto via Skype tra realtà attive in tutta Italia (tra cui Castelvolturno, Verona, Asti, Parma) a cui parteciperanno anche rappresentanti della Questura, del Comune e del Tribunale dei minori.

© riproduzione riservata

by donnedibenincitypalermo

05/04/18 – TERREDESHOMMES – NIGERIA, IL “RE” VIETA IL JUJU E LIBERA LE RAGAZZE

LINK: NIGERIA, IL “RE” VIETA IL JUJU E LIBERA LE RAGAZZE

Oba Ewuare II

NIGERIA, IL “RE” VIETA IL JUJU E LIBERA LE RAGAZZE

Lo stato di Edo, nel sud della Nigeria, è la regione da cui a partire dagli anni Ottanta ha avuto inizio la tratta delle giovani donne nigeriane: ingannate con la promessa di un lavoro come parrucchiera o baby sitter, ancora oggi decine di migliaia di donne e ragazze vengono invece costrette a prostituirsi sulle strade di mezza Europa. All’interno di questo business, svolgono un ruolo importante i sacerdoti della religione tradizionale juju che, attraverso appositi riti, vincolano le ragazze a obbedire ai trafficanti e alle maman, a non tradirli mai. Pena la morte, la pazzia, o altre sventure che possono ricadere su di loro o sui loro familiari.

Questi riti hanno un forte potere di suggestione. Sono, di fatto, catene invisibili che pochissime ragazze hanno il coraggio di spezzare. Chi invece ha avuto il coraggio e il potere di spezzarle è stato l’Oba (il “re”) Ewuare II, la massima autorità religiosa del popolo Edo. Lo scorso marzo, l’Oba ha convocato tutti i sacerdoti juju della regione e ha formulato un solenne editto con cui ha revocato tutti i riti di giuramento pronunciati dalle ragazze. Inoltre, ha obbligato i sacerdoti juju a non praticarne più e ha lanciato una maledizione su coloro che favoriscono la tratta degli esseri umani attraverso l’uso di queste pratiche. “Non vogliamo contrastare le attività dei sacerdoti, ma coloro che usano il juju per perpetrare il male sulla terra, attraverso il favoreggiamento e il traffico di esseri umani”, ha dichiarato Ewuare II, che ha infine lanciato un appello a “unire le nostre forze” per lottare contro la tratta di esseri umani.

Ewuare II è una figura molto rispettata in Nigeria. “La sua presa di posizione è importantissima”, spiega Francesca De Massi, responsabile di una casa-rifugio della cooperativa Befree a Benin City, che era presente alla cerimonia. De Massi, ha ricevuto molte telefonate dall’Italia: “Le ragazze mi chiedono se è vero, sono felicissime e stanno festeggiando”. Libere dalle catene del juju, per le giovani e giovanissime nigeriane costrette a prostituirsi in Italia, potrebbe essere più facile trovare il coraggio per denunciare i propri sfruttatori.

Vittime di tratta sempre più giovani

Quasi tutte queste ragazze sono arrivate in Italia al termine di un lungo ed estenuante viaggio che dalla Nigeria le ha portate attraverso il deserto del Sahara fino alla Libia e all’Italia: di trafficante in trafficante, spesso abusate e costrette a vendersi già durante il viaggio per ripagare l’enorme debito contratto (dai 20 ai 50mila euro). “L’elevato numero di giovani donne nigeriane tra i migranti che raggiungono l’Italia su un gommone partito dalla Libia è un dato consolidato e in costante crescita, sia per quanto riguarda le donne (erano circa 5mila nel 2015, passate a 11mila nel 2016) sia per quanto riguarda i minori non accompagnati (in larga parte di sesso femminile, passati da 900 a 3.040)” si legge nell’ultima edizione del dossier “InDifesa” presentata lo scorso 10 ottobre in occasione della Giornata internazionale delle bambine e delle ragazze.

Oim (Organizzazione mondiale per le migrazioni) denuncia “il significativo e preoccupante aumento di vittime di tratta adolescenti”. Molte tra queste ragazzine al momento dello sbarco si dichiarano maggiorenni, seguendo le indicazioni dei trafficanti: “In questo modo infatti le ragazze verranno collocate in strutture di accoglienza per adulti, dove sarà più semplice contattare i loro trafficanti che andranno a prelevarle con maggiore facilità”.
Anche Save the Children ha evidenziato il progressivo abbassamento dell’età delle giovani nigeriane vittime di tratta: “Sono sempre più giovani, scarsamente scolarizzate e sempre più pe. Si tratta prevalentemente di ragazze tra i 15 e i 17 anni, con una quota crescente di bambine tra i 13 e i 14 anni”.

by donnedibenincitypalermo

24/03/18 – VANGUARD NGR – Oba’s Curse: Come and take your pubic hairs, pants in our shrines – Native doctors beg victims of sex slavery

LINK: Oba’s Curse: Come and take your pubic hairs, pants in our shrines – Native doctors beg victims of sex slavery

…Victims, Madams at war in Europe as girls celebrate their freedom

…Pains, as Madams abandon girls in Libya

…Oba’s curse has made our job easier

— NAPTIP BY SIMON EBEGBULEM, BENIN CITY

For those, who doubted the efficacy of the curse on human traffickers by the Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare 11, the calls on trafficked girls to come and take their pubic hairs and pants from shrines are indeed a direct response to the doubts.

Saturday Vanguard learnt that native doctors, who hitherto held the power of life and death over the girls, are now terrified to the extent of reaching out to them through emissaries.

The native doctors in Edo State and other states, whose charms are known to have sustained the trafficking business, were gathered to have been uncomfortable since the Benin monarch made the pronouncement.

For many years, human traffickers, sponsors of girls to Europe where they are forced to engage in prostitution to pay back their sponsors who are fondly called “madams.” It is simply sex slavery. The trade had badly damaged Nigeria’s image abroad. Most of the girls are Edo indigenes.

Complying with the order Saturday Vanguard recalls that the Oba recently placed a curse on human traffickers, cult-related killers and other criminals perpetrating crime in the state to complement the efforts of the state government in the war against human traffickers.

The Oba had dug out juju that had not been exposed to sunlight for 800 years to place the curse.

However, it was learnt that the frightened native doctors had called the parents of some of the girls to come for the items they used in administrating some oaths, as most of them were no longer comfortable keeping them in their shrine.

The decision to call the victims’ parents instead of the traffickers, who hitherto owned the properties before the Oba’s pronouncement, was to ensure that some stubborn traffickers do not hold on to them.

Reliable sources told Saturday Vanguard in Benin City that the traffickers are devastated by the fact that the development has made it impossible for them to recoup their investment in the trade.

Italy, Germany, France, and Russia Consequently, some of them have commenced complying with the order in Italy, Germany, France and Russia and India.

However, it was gathered that some maintained that since they were not indigenes of the state, their trafficked victims would still pay the money used in taking them outside the shores of Nigeria.

For instance, an Igbo woman was said to have granted freedom to her victim in India, while some are hell-bent on being paid in defiance of the royal curse.

Expectedly, there is much compliance from the trafficked victims, who Saturday Vanguard gathered have refused to make further payment to their traffickers.

Some of the girls are coming together as a group to be able to form a formidable force to battle their respective traffickers.

Calls from Europe and Asia

Special Assistant to the state governor on Anti-Human Trafficking, Comrade Solomon Okonduwa, who spoke to Saturday Vanguard said his office is being inundated with calls from Europe and Asia over the effects of the curse by Oba of Benin.

Okonduwa said: “The impact of the Oba’s pronouncement has gone a long way to free our girls from the hands of these Madams in Italy and native doctors who are in possession of the girls’ personal belongings like pubic hairs, and pants among others.

“Some of the native doctors are calling their parents in Nigeria to come and take their properties out of the shrine in compliance with the directive of the Oba of Benin. Some of the girls in Europe are rejoicing while some are crying that their traffickers have not yielded to the voice of the Oba.

“An indigene of the state, whether the person is Esan or Edo North, is under the leadership of the Oba of Benin. Some are raising some issues that the pronouncement is for only Edo people, but we want to say that even an Igbo man or Yoruba who takes any Edo indigene to Europe, will be affected by the curse. As long as the person commits that offence in any part of Edo State, he will be affected. They should understand that those that disobeyed the Oba in the past had stories to tell.

Disobeying the Oba

“Those who have been freed, have been sent packing by their traffickers. But some of these girls have no place to stay after being sent away by their traffickers. We are referring them to some Non-Governmental Organisations, NGOs, who are into charity in Europe. The NGOs will take care of them so that they will not be sleeping at train stations.

“Most of the girls that have gone to these NGOs have renounced prostitution. These NGOs are assisting them. Those who want to live responsibly are being taken care of. Those in India, Russia, and France have some NGOs. We got a report from India that a trafficker who is from Edo State allowed her victim to go but an Igbo woman insisted that the girl must pay the money on the grounds that she is not from Edo State. We received that call three days ago. There is compliance in Italy, Germany, France and Russia.

“We still have many of them in Africa and we are monitoring the situation seriously”

Juju priests on the run

Also speaking, the Benin  Zonal Commander of National Agency for Prohibition and Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, Mr. Nduka

Nwanwenne noted that: “Most of the juju priests are on the run. There was one we wanted to arrest three days ago but he ran away. There was a lady that was summoned to appear before the juju priest we also tried to track the man but he got wind of it and took off.

“The victims have also refused to make further payment to their traffickers. It has been a positive development. We have seen situations where most of these victims are now free to talk which will help us during prosecution in the court.

And the Oba’s pronouncement is going beyond Edo State. I visited Agbor where I met with a traditional ruler and I know what he said. The effect is so much. There has been positive development so far and it has made our jobs easier”

However, a Benin lady based in Spain, who pleaded anonymity, informed Saturday Vanguard that apart from the effect on the business of trafficking, some girls who were in transit to Europe have been abandoned in Libya.

She said: “The Oba’s curse is affecting the businesses of the Madams and they are all scared now.    The girls who are already in Libya on their way to Europe as of the time of the Oba’s declaration are now stranded in Libya. The Madams have decided that since Oba has placed a curse on them, they will no longer carry on with the trade. So, they are no longer sending money for the upkeep of the girls in Libya from where they would have moved some to Europe. The girls are now stranded in Libya.

“The situation is causing pains to these girls in Libya because usually, the Madams who will take them to Italy are the ones in charge of their feeding, transportation, and other expenses in Libya.

“Now that the Oba has placed the curse, they have completely abandoned these girls in Libya and those girls are now vulnerable with all kinds of things.

Girls abandoned in Libya

“The Madams should send them money to send these girls back home instead of keeping them in Libya. But one of them told me that she is even scared of sending money to one of the girls to go back to Nigeria because she does not know whether the curse will affect her if she tries to help. They have now left those girls to fend for themselves. These girls are being sold as sex slaves now in Libya. I just hope that the governor of Edo State, who has been doing a lot, will chatter a plane to bring those girls back.”

A few days after Saturday Vanguard published the story of the Oba’s pronouncement,    some of the trafficked girls posted two videos on the social media, vowing not to pay their traffickers.

In one of the videos, an Austrian-based girl, who identified herself as Joy, vowed not to pay further money to her Madam.

She narrated how she came to Europe through Libya two years ago, adding that she was told to pay 30,000 Euro by her Madam so as to be free.

She said: ‘’I don’t have a good job because I have no document. And my Madam expects me to get the money through prostitution and I can no longer cope. I was sleeping in a train station before I was able to get a small house where I live now. I have been paying that money back to my Madam since then. But I thank God when I heard about the Oba’s curse because I need to plan my future and stop being a slave to a woman.

I called my Madam and I told her about Oba’s curse, saying that I was not ready to pay any more. She started shouting and asking me whether it was Oba that brought me to Europe. I told her it does not matter that after all, I took the oath in Benin.    The native doctor is still with my pubic hair, pant and other things we used for the oath-taking. We were three girls my Madam brought here. I am in Austria, one is in Italy and another one in France.

I am in Austria

“She asked the one in France to pay 40, 000 Euro, while the one in Italy will pay 30 Euro.

“If we are not able to pay the money, we will be valueless as women in life. No man will ever marry us because we will be finished while the Madam and her family will be enjoying life. The Madam is threatening me saying that if I don’t pay this month she will deal with me. But I want to say that if she tries anything against me, I am going to call the Police for her. She is an evil woman. I have been enduring a lot of things.

These women sponsor people here to destroy their lives. In Italy the man pays five or ten Euro for a round of sex, is that life? And we have been suffering this because we want to pay the money to Madam. But enough is enough and in the event that anything happens to me, she should be held responsible”.

Another girl in Europe, who identified herself as Jenifer, said her Madam asked her to pay 35,000 Euro, adding that she had paid 30,000 Euro before now.

She said: “I have told my Madam that I can longer pay the balance of 5,000 Euros because of Oba’s curse. After all, I came to Europe by land and not air. I came through Libya. I suffered to pass through the Sahara Desert. She is calling everybody in Nigeria threatening me.

The family said they will take my pant and pubic hair to a native doctor so that I can be deported to Nigeria.    I will arrest her If she continues to threaten me. She stays in Cologne, Germany. Her name is Queen Iyobo, I will deal with her if she disturbs me. She is claiming that she is Esan and not Benin, saying that Oba’s curse will not affect her.  I have told her I will not pay because if I pay the curse will kill me.”

by donnedibenincitypalermo

24/03/2018 – NY TIMES – A Voodoo Curse on Human Traffickers

LINK: A Voodoo Curse on Human Traffickers

By Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani

Oba Ewuare II, traditional ruler of the kingdom of Benin, at his coronation in 2016. This month he issued one curse and revoked others in a bid to encourage victims to testify against human traffickers.
Credit/Pius Utomi Ekpei/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

ABUJA, Nigeria — Human traffickers have officially been cursed. On March 9, Oba Ewuare II, the traditional ruler of the kingdom of Benin, in southern Nigeria, put a voodoo curse on anyone who abets illegal migration within his domain. At the same time, he revoked the curses that leave victims of trafficking afraid that their relatives will die if they go to the police or fail to pay off their debt.

Before being smuggled into Europe, women and girls in the area, which falls in present-day Edo State, are made to sign a contract with the traffickers who finance their journey, promising to pay them thousands of dollars. The agreement is sealed with a voodoo, or juju, ritual, conducted by a spiritual priest, known here as a native doctor. Pieces of their clothing, fingernails or hair are mixed with drops of their blood into a concoction that the women are made to drink.

The oba has authority over all the spiritual priests in the Benin kingdom (not to be confused with the West African country of Benin). He summoned them to his palace that Friday to make his announcement.

David Edebiri, a high-ranking traditional leader, was there, and described to me what happened during the ceremony. First the oba “released all those bound by juju.” Then he put a curse on the head of any priest who makes “any concoction for anybody with a view to promoting any immigration to any part of the world.” This curse, Mr. Edebiri told me, “manifests in various ways: Some may die mysteriously, some may go mad in the street.”

What the oba has done is likely to be more effective than anything the international anti-trafficking community has managed to do after millions of dollars and many years.

The Benin kingdom of the Edo people has a proud history dating back to the 13th century. But lately Edo State has gained notoriety as a hub of sexual exploitation. According to the United Nations, over 90 percent of the thousands of women taken from Nigeria to Europe to work as prostitutes are coming from Edo.

Edo is not one of Nigeria’s poorest states. But in the early 1980s women there started traveling to Italy to trade in gold and beads, and “saw a thriving market in prostitution,” said Kokunre Agbontaen-Eghafona, a professor at the University of Benin and a researcher for the International Organization for Migration. She believes this “founders factor” is the main reason Edo has become such a center of human trafficking.

During a reporting trip there in 2016, I came across heaps of secondhand winter clothes for sale to those planning to make the journey to Europe. I also met girls who had traveled thousands of miles to find a trafficker who would send them there.

The oba’s intervention was probably motivated by a recent CNN series on human trafficking that focused on Edo. Mr. Edebiri said that the portrayal of the kingdom as a “den of illicit activity” outraged him and his colleagues. Around the same time, Julie Okah-Donli, the director of Nigeria’s National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, paid the oba a visit. She said she told him that it was difficult to prosecute traffickers because the victims worried about breaking their oaths.

The fear of these oaths and their supposed consequences is one big reason women remain enslaved in sex work and debt bondage; they often rebuff attempts by activists to set them free.

A native doctor named Olor Elemian boasted to me: “I don’t need to collect the girls’ photographs or fingernails or anything else as other native doctors do. All I need is for them to bathe naked before the shrine and to write out their full names.” Sitting on the floor in his shrine amid calabashes, animal bones and bloodstained cloths, Mr. Elemian, who inherited the job from his father, said: “I can make sure that she never sleeps well or has any peace of mind until she pays what she owes. Something in her head will keep telling her, ‘Go and pay! Go and pay!’”

In Edo, I also met a 25-year-old woman who was deported from Italy but who along with her family remained petrified by the consequences of her unpaid debt. Her mother eventually borrowed yet more money to pay a native doctor to undo the oath her daughter had taken before she was trafficked.

“This belief in juju has been a strong impediment to our prosecution” of traffickers, Arinze Orakwue, a top official at the Nigerian anti-trafficking agency, told me. “You can’t prosecute when nobody is willing to come forward to say this person did this to me.”

His agency expects Oba Ewuare’s pronouncement to have a significant impact in all of Edo. The oba’s decree “is a very strong weapon to support anti-trafficking,” Mr. Orakwue said, because the Edo people’s “belief system is strongly rooted in traditional worship.”

The agency’s appeal to the oba is an example of using African solutions to solve African problems. Well-meaning foreign governments and groups can continue to inject millions of dollars into Africa to fix our problems, but those interventions would be much more effective if local people and customs were more deeply considered.

It is all well and good to imagine Africa as a Wakanda, where technology rules and everything works. But Africa is not a Wakanda. At least, not yet. We must use what Africa has today to get it to where we want it to be.

Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani is a journalist and the author of the forthcoming young adult novel “Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree.”

Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook and Twitter (@NYTopinion), and sign up for the Opinion Today newsletter. 

by donnedibenincitypalermo

20703/2018 – REDATTORE SOCIALE – Nigeria, vietati i riti vudù che vincolano le donne alla tratta

LINK:  Facebook966 Twitter Google+ Nigeria, vietati i riti vudù che vincolano le donne alla tratta

A Benin city è accaduto un fatto storico che potrebbe liberare molte ragazze vittime della tratta: l’Oba Ewuare II, la massima autorità religiosa del popolo Edo, ha convocato i sacerdoti della religione tradizionale juju e ha formulato un editto in cui revoca tutti i riti vudù che vincolano le ragazze trafficate, obbligando i sacerdoti a non praticarne più

In Nigeria, a Benin city, nell’Edo State, e’ accaduto un fatto storico che potrebbe liberare molte ragazze vittime della tratta a scopo di sfruttamento sessuale: l’Oba (che vuol dire ‘re’) Ewuare II, ossia la massima autorita’ religiosa del popolo Edo (che vive in Nigeria e nella zona del delta del Niger), ha convocato nei giorni scorsi tutti i sacerdoti della religione tradizionale juju e, in una cerimonia solenne, ha formulato un editto in cui revoca tutti i riti vudu’ di giuramento che vincolano le ragazze trafficate, obbligando i sacerdoti juju a non praticarne piu’.

Come spiega tra gli altri anche l’emittente Enews Channel Africa, questa decisione potrebbe evitare che migliaia di ragazze nigeriane vengano costrette a prostituirsi in Europa – e’ noto il fenomeno in Italia – per ripagare il debito contratto con i trafficanti, che si aggirerebbe tra i 20 e i 40 mila euro. La maggior parte di queste donne proviene infatti dallo Edo State. Un passo importante insomma, in quanto verrebbe meno quella paura che molte di loro confidano di avere nel denunciare i loro aguzzini, liberandosi cosi’ dalla condizione di schiavitu’. L’accordo stretto durante quei riti obbliga infatti la ragazza a non tradire mai il trafficante, nella convinzione che farlo condurra’ alla pazzia o addirittura alla morte.

“Questa cerimonia e’ un fatto di portata storica, che puo’ avere implicazioni enormi.Potrebbe incrementare il numero di denunce contro i trafficanti ed aiutarle a liberarsi”, spiega al Sir da Benin city Francesca De Massi, responsabile di una casa-rifugio della cooperativa Befree contro la tratta, la violenza e la discriminazione. Ewuare II e’ una figura molto autorevole, che ha ricoperto gli incarichi di ambasciatore della Nigeria in Angola, Svezia e Italia e ha lavorato alle Nazioni Unite. Fin dal suo insediamento nel 2016 ha collaborato con il governatore dell’Edo State e con l’agenzia locale contro la tratta di persone. “La sua presa di posizione e’ importantissima- prosegue De Massi- Sono molto ottimista sugli effetti di questa cerimonia”. Da quel giorno l’attivista riceve continue telefonate dall’Italia: “Le ragazze mi chiedono se e’ vero, sono felicissime, stanno festeggiando”. Negli anni, a causa della crescente domanda da parte di clienti italiani, le cifre della tratta di ragazze nigeriane sono esplose: “Dal 2014 ad oggi- ricorda- c’e’ stato un incremento del 600%. Nel 2016 ne sono arrivate 11mila”. Anche secondo suor Gabriella Bottani, coordinatrice della rete delle religiose anti-tratta Talitha kum “la condanna dell’Oba di Benin city puo’ innescare un cambiamento positivo”. (AGENSIR/DIRE)

by donnedibenincitypalermo

13/03/18 – PMNEWS NIGERIA – Human Trafficking: Oba Of Benin Places Curses​ On Sorcerers, Cultists

LINK: Human Trafficking: Oba Of Benin Places Curses On Sorcerers, Cultists

Sorcerers paying homahe to Oba Ewuare II

By Jethro Ibileke/Benin

The Benin Monarch, Oba Ewuare II, on Friday assembled sorcerers and top magic-practising priests of the Kingdom to place curses on native doctors and herbalists and all others who aid human traffickers by administering oaths of secrecy on their victims.

Also cursed were kidnappers, violators of the order banning Community Development Associations and others whose business is to initiate sons and daughters of the kingdom into various cult groups.

Those who carried out the swearing exercise were the Ohen Okhuae, Ohen Ovia, Ohen n’Oriyekeogba, Ohen Ake, Ohen Niwuo, Native Doctors, Ohen Sango, Odionwere, Iwueki and the Enigies.

It would also be recalled that the Director-General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Dame Julie Okah-Donli, had during a visit to the Benin monarch a few weeks ago, disclosed that the agency found it difficult to prosecute offenders because the victims were not willing to come to court to testify against their traffickers due to the oaths of secrecy administered on them.

Oba Ewuare in his remark during the ceremony said those aiding and abetting human trafficking through the use of black magic and subjecting them to the oaths of secrecies should desist from it henceforth or face the wrath of the gods.

“You native doctors whose business is to subject people to the oath of secrecies and encouraging this evil act on the land, you have to repent, stop doing it. This is not a joking matter and if you do not repent, you have to wait for the repercussion,” he said.

The Monarch noted that the palace is not against those practising sorcery but seriously frowned at those who use it to perpetrate evil in the land through aiding and abetting human trafficking in the State.

He said henceforth those who were under oaths of secrecy administered on them by human traffickers had been set free and at liberty to air their views and reveal their sponsors without fear of any harm from their sponsors.

“We want to use this medium to tell those who are under any oaths of secrecy that they are now free. We revoke the oaths today,” he said.

The Royal father said the interest of the palace was to work for the development and progress of the State, adding that all hands must be on deck to work towards that direction by doing what is right.

“What the Palace stands for is peace and the development of the state. I want to use this medium to tell you that the act of using charms to aid trafficking, the palace seriously frowns at it.

“We want us to join hands together to fight against human trafficking in the land,” he said, noting that there had been positive reports about Edo State and that such positive reports must be sustained.

The Oba who disclosed that the State Governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki, pleaded with him to help reduce the spate of human trafficking in the State, added that before now, he has been in the vanguard against human trafficking in the State.

Meanwhile, the Director-General of NAPTIP, Dame Julie Okah-Donli, has hailed the Benin Monarch, Oba Ewuare II, for placing curses on human traffickers and their collaborators.

Speaking to our correspondent at the palace of the Benin Monarch, Okah-Donli, who was represented by the Edo State Commander of NAPTIP, Barr. Nduka Nwawwenne expressed confidence that the curse placed on those aiding and abetting human trafficking will reduce the scourge of trafficking in persons.

She added that the agency hoped it would witness improved prosecution of trafficking offenders henceforth.

“The major reason is that victims of human trafficking who are supposed to give evidence in court don’t usually open up because of the oath of secrecy they have taken.

“These oaths are taken with some personal items like fingernails, pubic hair, menstrual pads, pictures, clothing and things like that. They are also told that the moment they open up and reveal their traffickers, they will be punished by the oaths they have taken.

“So, because of that, we are not able to get enough evidence to prosecute suspected traffickers.

“With the pronouncement of His Royal Majesty today, I think a giant stride has been taken and am sure that people will now open up, because, in the first place, oaths will not be administered on them [trafficking victims].

“I believe that now those curses have been placed on them, His Royal Majesty has forgiven those that administered it previously. So, I believe in it.

“Since the Oba is highly revered, am sure that the juju priests and native doctors will comply with what Oba has pronounced. Am sure that victims will now open up and most importantly, they will not be taken to shrines to be administered with oaths,” Okah-Donli said.

by donnedibenincitypalermo

13/03/18 – SANCARABLOG – L’oba del Benin contro il traffico di esseri umani

LINK: L’oba del Benin contro il traffico di esseri umani

Ha destato grande interesse negli ambienti nigeriani (e non solo) il pronunciamento dell’oba del Benin, Ewuare II, contro la tratta di esseri umani. L’oba ha chiesto ai “medici nativi” di revocare i giuramenti già posti della vittime di tratta svicolando così le donne dalle maledizioni poste in essere dai riti celebrati. Una notizie che interessa tutte le giovani donne nigeriane giunte in Italia negli ultimi anni e costrette alla prostituzione. Ma, vediamo con ordine cosa è successo.
L’oba è nella cultura del popolo Edo (popolazione dell’Africa occidentale ed in particolare del delta del Niger in Nigeria) un re e un capo religioso. Il nome  oba (che in molte lingue locali significa re) entrò in uso nel XIII secolo con Eweka I, considerato il fondatore del Regno del Benin. Il ruolo – oggi molto più religioso e culturale  che politico (gli inglesi sul finire del 1800 decretarono la fine all’Impero del Benin)  – si tramanda da allora ed oggi a ricoprirlo èEheneden Erediauwa (Ewuare II) nato nel 1953 e “incoronato” il 20 ottobre 2016. Ewuare ha studiato in un college a Benin City, poi a Londra, poi a Cardiff (laurea in Economia) e infine in New Jersey dove ha conseguito un Master in Pubblica Amministrazione. Ha lavorato alle Nazioni Unite dal 1981 al 1982 ed è stato ambasciatore di Nigeria in Angola, Svezia ed in Italia. Sin dal suo insediamento l’oba ha strettamente collaborato con il Governatore dell’Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, eletto il 12 novembre 2016. Alcuni giorni fa l’oba ha chiamato a raccolta (ecco il link del video della cerimonia) tutti i medici tradizionali formulando una sorta di “editto” in cui li obbliga a non mettere in atto giuramenti rituali (che in Italia conosciamo genericamente come riti vudù o jujù) checostringono giovani donne nigeriane a restituire soldi ad organizzazioni criminali che le portano in Europa (ed in particolare in Italia) a prostituirsi. Allo stesso tempo l’editto libera (anche con azione retroattiva) le donne dal vincolo e le mette nelle condizioni di denunciare i criminali. Infatti, l’oba, ha anche pronunciato parole molto dure contro le confraternite che sono alla base della mafia nigeriana che gestisce da decenni il traffico di esseri umani allo scopo di sfruttamento nel mondo della prostituzione e strettamente connesso con lo spaccio di stupefacenti. Il ruolo dei medici nativi è quello di svolgere, a pagamento, riti che impegnano la ragazza e la sua famiglia alla restituzione del debito accumulato per arrivare in Europa (tra i 20 e i 40 mila euro) pena l’arrivo di maledizioni di ogni genere. Giocando sulla credenza, sull’ignoranza e sul potere acquisito i medici nativi vincolano le vittime a non parlare del proprio giuramento e a restituire fino all’ultimo centesimo il loro debito La prostituzione nigeriana in Italia ha subito un’impennata negli ultimi tre-quattro anno, che hanno visto crescere (grazie anche all’assurdo e favorente  sistema italiano di protezione internazionale) a dismisura le donne “importate” dalla Nigeria. Solo nel 2016 ne sono giunte in Italia 11.006.
E’ un fatto sicuramente importante che risponde, come ha avuto modo di dire l’oba, alla richiesta forte  della comunità internazionale (e solo in parte di quella, distratta, nigeriana) rivolta ai sistemi informali (quelli appunto dei medici tradizionali, degli stregoni e dei ciarlatani nigeriani) di contribuire di mettere fine alla tratta di esseri umani. Bisognerà aspettare gli effetti, se effetti ci saranno, di questa presa di posizione dell’oba del Benin. Nei prossimi mesi scopriremo se al già ridotto numero di nuovi arrivi degli ultimi mesi del 2017 e dei primi del 2018 (effetti della politica del governo italiano) si aggiungerà anche un effetto – sicuramente più positivo – di mancanza di nuova carne da macello da inserire nel ghiotto mercato italiano. Così sarà interessante capire se le ragazze nigeriane – già in Italia o in Europa da tempo – svincolate dal loro giuramento saranno capaci di collaborare con la giustizia e di permettere l’arresto dei criminali che gestiscono un business così redditizio.
Sicuramente trema una parte della comunità residente nigeriana in Italia che ricava importanti utili dai servizi offerti alle “ragazze di strada” (dalle ospitalità alle necessità logistiche o dei servizi, quando non il diretto guadagno su una parte del debito).
Sicuramente l’atto dell’oba è coraggioso, perché in definitiva, toglie una parte importante dei guadagni ai medici nativi e in qualche modo ne delegittima l’azione. Così come si mette deliberatamente contro alle potente confraternite che da decenni infiammano criminalmente la vita quotidiana in Nigeria. Certo ancora si fa fatica a scardinare una rete di credenze e di ignoranza, di pregiudizi e di complicità, che anche attraverso l’uso di rituali e pratiche di stregonerie, contribuiscono a fare restare in un forte oblio la popolazione nigeriana a vantaggio di criminali e politici corrotti.
Oltre ai post indicati dai link è possibile approfondire anche con questo link  di Sancara “Nigeria in Italia, alcuni numeri“
by donnedibenincitypalermo

10/03/17 – THE GUARDIAN NGR – Oba of Benin moves against human traffickers, cultists

LINK:  Oba of Benin moves against human traffickers, cultists

The Oba of Benin Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo Oba Ewuare II, has placed a curse on perpetrators of human trafficking and their collaborators including native doctors and priests who administer the oath of secrecy on victims.

The Oba placed the curse yesterday in Benin City while meeting with Enogie, Edionwere, and priests of different deities in Benin and native doctors at his palace.

Others, who attended the meeting, are senior and junior priests of Okhuaihe, senior and junior priests of Ovia, all priests in Iyekogba, all priests of Ake, all priestesses and native doctors as well as market women leaders.

He said the oath of secrecy administered on the victims has been encouraging the illegal trade called on all native doctors to shun the act and join hands with the palace to attract development and progress to the kingdom.

“It is reported that at the beginning the traffickers take their victims to native doctors to take an oath that they will not disclose the names of their traffickers and sponsors.

“Your power is to fight for the progress of Benin kingdom and not to be used for the destruction of our young people”.

He also invoked his power as the spiritual leader of Benin kingdom nullified all the oaths of secrecy administered on all victims of human trafficking and urged them to speak out and seek assistance.

While disclosing that statistics from relevant agencies reveal that most of those trafficked in Nigeria are from Benin, Oba Ewuare deplored the practice where gainfully employed artisans sell their working tools to pay their traffickers.

“We have some people gainfully employed as mechanics, welders, tailors, selling their working tools to pay traffickers to take them to Italy, Germany.

“Those, who traffic people to Italy, Germany and other countries first take them to Libya where they are enslaved”.

He urged the native doctors to tell all victims of human trafficking to speak out as all oaths of secrecy have been nullified.

“From today, we no longer want to hear of human trafficking in Benin. I hope those who have been involved in this illegal trade will stop from today.

“All native doctors who have administered the oath of secrecy on victims of human trafficking should also tell those they administered such oath on to speak out.

“Am appealing to all native doctors to stop administering such oaths on trafficked victims and all such oaths are hereby nullified.

“No native doctor should do any charm for any potential illegal migrant to cross the international border. Those who did it before now are forgiven and whoever does it from today will face the wrought of our ancestors”, the monarch warned.

Speaking with newsmen after the royal pronouncement, zonal commander, National Agency for the Prohibition in Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, Barrister Nduka Nwanwennee pointed out that the Oba’s intervention is a significant milestone in the war against human trafficking and illegal migration.

“Before now, victims of human trafficking rarely open up to give evidence in court because of they have taken. They are afraid and believe that the oath will have an effect on them as the native doctors who administered such oaths have their personal items like fingernails, pubic hair, menstrual pads, pants, photographs etc.

“Now that those oaths have been nullified by the monarch, our power of prosecution has been enhanced and we can now rescue more victims,” he said.