“You are all welcome to the Senate Roundtable on Migration and Human Trafficking in Nigeria, a Two-Day discourse starting today in Benin City, Edo State.” -SP @BukolaSaraki at #HumanTrafficking Summit “Nigeria currently ranks 23 on the Global Slavery Index of 167 countries with the highest number of slaves. Human trafficking is third in the ignoble hierarchy of the commonly occurring crimes in Nigeria, according to UNESCO.” -SP @BukolaSaraki at #HumanTrafficking Summit “Irregular migration has been a disastrous development for our continent; and the stark realisation becomes even more so, when we narrow the focus to Nigeria.” -SP @BukolaSaraki at #HumanTrafficking Summit |Nigeria accounts for the world’s highest number of irregular migrants going through the Agadez Route. Our citizens represent the fifth largest number of migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea into Europe.” -SP @BukolaSaraki at #HumanTrafficking Summit “The number of Nigerian females arriving in Italy alone increased 600-fold in just three years.” -SP @BukolaSaraki at #HumanTrafficking Summit “10,000 Nigerians are estimated to have lost their lives on the perilous journey in five months of last year alone.” -SP @BukolaSaraki at #HumanTrafficking Summit “We have seen the bleak images of coffins of 26 Nigerian girls who were laid to rest in Italy last November. This is what brings us today to ancient Benin.” -SP @BukolaSaraki at #HumanTrafficking Summit “The trafficking of young males has overtaken females in this state for the first time, and now stands at 63 per cent.” -SP @BukolaSaraki at #HumanTrafficking Summit “I thank Governor Obaseki for his determined leadership in the face of the crisis, and for being our gracious host for this Roundtable.” -SP @BukolaSaraki at #HumanTrafficking Summit “Young people all over the country are entranced by the lure of life abroad, and it appears many are willing to risk their lives for it.” -SP @BukolaSaraki at #HumanTrafficking Summit “It is our expectation that this Roundtable will serve as a springboard to efforts to stem the tide.” -SP @BukolaSaraki at #HumanTrafficking Summit “We are losing sleep over irregular migration and human trafficking; and we are determined, as representatives of the people, to do something about it.” -SP @BukolaSaraki at #HumanTrafficking Summit “The irregular migration of Africans to faraway countries – especially in the Western hemisphere – is not new, but it has assumed a much more worrying dimension in recent times.” -SP @BukolaSaraki at #HumanTrafficking Summit “We cannot forget 21-year-old Victor, who told CNN in one viral video that he was sold into slavery while in transit? “I spent my life savings leaving the country,” he said. -SP @BukolaSaraki at #HumanTrafficking Summit “This Roundtable is designed to help answer some of the niggling questions. To identify root causes and the various dimensions of the problem.” -SP @BukolaSaraki at #HumanTrafficking Summit “We have lost too many young people who have died in the desert and in the sea on these unpredictable treks.” -SP @BukolaSaraki at #HumanTrafficking Summit “We have lost too many young people who would otherwise have found productive lives in their home country.” -SP @BukolaSaraki at #HumanTrafficking Summit “And have we not lost our dignity as a people, watching our freeborn citizens sold as slaves in lands that are themselves teetering on the brink?” -SP @BukolaSaraki at #HumanTrafficking Summit “Why is it so easy for huge numbers of young Nigerians to leave home, go through borders illegally, enter other nations’ borders, and cross those borders without being detected or prevented?” -SP @BukolaSaraki at #HumanTrafficking Summit “Clearly, something is wrong in the way we manage citizens’ security, border security as well as international cooperation and collaboration.” -SP @BukolaSaraki at #HumanTrafficking Summit