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Human trafficking is a crime against humanity. It involves the act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harbouring or receiving a person for the purpose of exploiting them. Every year, thousands of peopleare trafficked within and outside their countries, which are either the site of crime, used as transit, or as a destination for victims.
Human trafficking often results in forced labour or prostitution of victims, who are frequently recruited from rural areas on false pretences and then exploited. Stopping trafficking will help maintain girls and women’s health and make them more productive in the community.
Human trafficking has become a problem that defies permanent solution in Nigeria and West Africa. Described as modern-day slavery, it is driven by greed, poverty and poor legislation, with the victims predominantly children, girls and women. The National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons and other related matters in Nigeria (NAPTIP) has rescued and repatriated more than 5000 victims. Over 60 percent of these, mainly teenagers, tested HIV-positive because they engaged in the sex trade.
According to a US State Department Trafficking in Persons Report, “Nigeria is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labour and commercial sexual exploitation.” The report continues, “Within Nigeria, women and girls are trafficked primarily for domestic servitude and commercial sexual exploitation.”
NAPTIP says there are slave camps populated by Nigerian girls in Mali, Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina-Faso, Niger, Libya, Morocco and Cape Verde.
This script is a drama based on actual interviews and true life stories. It can be used as an inspiration to research and write a script on a similar topic in your area. Or you might choose to produce this script on your station, using voice actors to represent the speakers. If so, please make sure to tell your audience at the beginning of the program that the voices are those of actors, not the original people involved in the interviews.
Script
Characters
Host
Rose
Johnbull: Rose’s father
Joe: Johnbull’s friend
Florence: a lady who was a victim of trafficking
Signature tune for 30 seconds and fade out under host
Host:
Hello listeners, and welcome to Change Makers, a program that focuses on difficult issues in which people intervened and brought change. Today, we will focus on how one lady prevented a young girl from being trafficked into sexual exploitation. Stay tuned. I am your regular host, Mary Michael.
Signature tune up, then fade out under host
Signature tune up, then fade out under host
Host:
All that glitters is not gold, an old adage says. But some parents forget this saying too quickly when it comes to making money and improving family life. They lure or force their children into taking jobs for which they are not ready or qualified, and that may get them into serious trouble. Some children resist, while some excitedly accept. Have you ever come across an offer that seems to be too good to be true? What do you do with offers like that? Stay tuned. Today, we will hear about one offer that really was too good to be true.
Sounds of flipping through a newspaper. Sound of a man expressing surprise.
Johnbull:
It’s a lie; this can’t be true. I must be dreaming! (He screams with excitement) Rose, Rose, where are you?
Rose:
Yes, Papa?
Johnbull:
My daughter, read this. God has answered our prayers. Read. I want to hear it.
Rose:
(Reading) Our client, a leader in the tourism and hospitality business needs suitably qualified candidates to fill the following vacant positions: hotel clerks, receptionists, and managers. Requirements: The candidates (preferably female) should possess the following qualities: Ability to speak the English language fluently; at least five foot six inches tall; be willing to travel at short notice; ability to work under pressure to satisfy various customer needs. Possession of academic qualifications like OND, BSc, etc., is not necessary as the company conducts an in-house training for its prospective employees. Upon interview, dynamic and versatile candidates will be taken out of the country to Europe to work in some of our most prestigious business and service outlets.
Johnbull:
(Excitedly) Stop. It’s enough. Does this not answer our prayers?
Rose:
(Hesitant) I don’t understand, papa.
Johnbull:
(Raising his voice) You don’t? I will tell you. (Emphasizing) It means you can apply for this job with your O level certificate. It says no OND or BSc is required.
Rose:
But papa, I have told you I don’t want to work yet. I want to further my education.
Johnbull:
With what money? Do I have to starve myself to death for what I am saying to make sense to you? Okay, you want to go to school? No problem. First get the job, go abroad and make money. When you have made enough, you can further your education. Otherwise, hunger and poverty will kill us. Remember, you have siblings.
Rose:
Papa, I am not going to Europe or work abroad. How can I go to a place where I don’t know anybody?
Johnbull:
How do the other employees go? They also leave without knowing anyone where they are going. That’s because they know what is important – making money and not friends. Why can’t you act like them?
Rose:
(Sobbing) Papa, please let me stay here and …
Johnbull:
(Interrupting) I don’t want to hear anything about this again. Just prepare yourself. I will apply on your behalf.
Host:
This was the beginning of conflict between Rose and her father. She complained to Florence, a sick, rich lady who told her to stand her ground and refuse to take the job. Her father complained to Joe, his friend, who tried to no avail to end the stalemate between father and daughter. Then the father tried another strategy.
Sound of footsteps
Johnbull:
Rose?
Rose:
Yes papa, welcome!
Johnbull:
What is that you are holding? Is it the job application?
Rose:
No papa, I told you I would never take that job.
Johnbull:
So what are you holding?
Rose:
My school result.
Johnbull:
Okay, that outstanding result. Let me look at it again.
Rose:
(Excitedly) Ok, papa.
(Sound of paper being shredded)
Rose:
(weeping) No papa, that’s my result you just tore. Oh, my life is finished. Papa, what about my education?
Johnbull:
I sent you to school, paid your school fees to get this result and you talk back at me? Let me see how you will go to any school.
Rose:
(Sobbing) Papa, this is not fair, it is not fair. Oh no, why? Why? Why?
Host:
Rose again goes to Florence, her confidante, who promises to talk to Johnbull. Johnbull visits his friend Joe to announce that he has found a way to force his daughter to change her mind. While they are talking, Rose meets them and Joe tries to intervene.
Joe:
(Talking to Johnbull) You think this will change anything?
Johnbull:
We will see. (Footsteps) Who is there?
Rose:
It’s me, papa.
Joe:
Rose, come here.
Rose:
Good evening, sir!
Joe:
Good evening, my daughter. What is this I hear you are doing? You’ve always been a good girl. Where did you pick up this new vice? Your father knows the best for you – he will not deceive you. So listen to him.
Rose:
I don’t want to work here or in Europe. I want to go to school.
Johnbull:
Joe, you see what I have been saying?
Joe:
Take it easy, my friend. Rose, listen to me. Jobs abroad bring plenty of money. Look at Florence. If she had not been poisoned, she would still be in Europe.
Footsteps
Johnbull:
Who’s there?
Florence:
It’s me, Uncle Johnbull.
Joe and Johnbull:
Thank God.
Johnbull:
Good timing, Florence. Come in.
Florence:
Good evening, Uncle Johnbull, Uncle Joe. Good evening.
Joe:
How are you, Florence? How’s your health? I hope you are getting better?
Florence:
Well, Uncle Joe, that is partly why I came to see Uncle Johnbull.
Johnbull:
Have you decided to go with me to see that native doctor for some herbs?
Florence:
(Laughs) Not really, but we will talk about that later. I came to see you because of Rose.
Johnbull:
So you have also heard about her misbehavior. Rose, you see how you have been disgracing yourself?
Joe:
I was just telling her she needs that job abroad if she is going to make it in life like you.
Florence:
(Laughs again) Uncle Johnbull and Uncle Joe, I don’t want you to insist that Rose takes a job in Europe.
Joe and Johnbull:
Why?
Florence:
That is why I am here. This is the same kind of advertisement I saw years back when I applied for the job that took me to Europe. But you know what kind of job I ended up doing? Prostitution.
Joe and Johnbull:
What?
Florence:
Yes, prostitution. These people will take you to Europe. And when you get there, they will force you to go into prostitution. There is nothing you can do because you are new, and you don’t know your way around and they keep your passport. The Nigerian madams control the girls’ freedom of movement, where they work, when they work, and how much they receive. The girls work against their will and are held captive for forced sexual exploitation. It’s like servitude or slavery! If you are wise and co-operate, you may make extra money and find a way to save some. Otherwise, you will get nothing. And of course clients decide what service they want for their money. You all know about my illness which has been attributed to poison? It is not poison, I was infected with HIV.
Joe and Johnbull:
What?
Johnbull:
But they said …
Florence:
(Laughs) Forget what they said. I would have been dead by now, but a government agency helped me, and I am on a special kind of drug. If I had started the drugs early, I wouldn’t have been this ill. The drugs are the reason I am still alive. So if you force Rose, she will end up like me.
Joe and Johnbull:
God forbid.
Florence:
So I advise that you let Rose continue her studies, and advise all the other men in the community not to allow their children to apply for such jobs. Otherwise, they will end up with problems and failing health. Some people lose their lives.
Johnbull:
But you know I don’t have any more money to pay her fees to further her education – that’s why I asked her to get a job.
Florence:
Don’t worry about Rose. I will help her through her studies.
Johnbull:
I tore her result in anger.
Florence:
Don’t worry; we will get another one from the school, even if I have to pay for it. I will also help all the other girls whose parents cannot support them through school, and those who want to acquire skills so that these girls are not forced into prostitution.
Joe:
You will help the other girls, including mine?
Florence:
Yes, I will set up a foundation and pick some people in the community to help me run it. And also involve government agencies and non-governmental organizations. I will pay the girls while they learn these skills.
Johnbull and Joe:
Thank you, my daughter.
Johnbull:
Rose, I am sorry for what happened. You know I didn’t mean to harm you. I wanted the family’s progress.
Florence:
She knows. Don’t worry, Uncle Johnbull. She told me everything from the beginning. That is how I knew what was happening.
Johnbull:
Does this mean these girls who go abroad to work and send money to their parents are all into prostitution?
Florence:
No Uncle Johnbull, not all the jobs are fake. Some are decent and good jobs for people who have educational qualifications and those who are professionals. That’s why it’s easy for them to send money back home. People should always investigate the jobs they want to apply for before they apply, especially when qualifications are not required. This can keep them out of a lot of trouble.
Johnbull:
Oh thank you, Florence, thank you. We will make sure that no daughter of ours is tricked into prostitution or modern slavery again.
Fade out voices and boost signature tune under host
Host:
So Florence established a foundation for girls called “The Ambitious Girls Foundation.” She helped girls go to school and trained others in different skills, exactly as she promised. She also paid them stipends to help them support their families. When they finished, she gave them loans to establish their businesses, according to their skills. She became a change maker, and made all the men in the village change makers. All the girls also brought change to their lives, families and community through their skills and education.
I hope that, like Rose, we will resist all kinds of vices, stick to our dreams and bring change wherever we are, in whatever way we can. Don’t forget – it pays to be a change maker.
If you have any questions on what you can do or where you can get help to stop human trafficking, or you want more information, send your mail to: The producer, Change Makers, info@nsptip@gov.ng, or call 234-1-7030000203 or 234-1-8077225566. Until we bring you another edition of Change Makers, I am Mary Michael saying have a lovely week.
Boost signature tune and fade out
Acknowledgements
- Contributed by: Ugonma Cokey, Voice of Nigeria, a Farm Radio International broadcasting partners
- Reviewed by: Busisiwe Ngcebetsha, Media and Training Centre for Health, Cape Town South Africa
Information sources
- Interview with Mr. Godwin Morka, Senior Chief Research Officer, NAPTIP, June 16, 2010.
NAPTIP Newsletter, undated. Vacancy. Volume 1 Number 3. - Adeze Ojuku. Nigeria/West Africa: Human Trafficking. Daily Champion News, Sept. 21, 2006. http://www.stopdemand.com/afawcs0112878/ID=180/newsdetails.html
- United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) website: http://www.unodc.org/
- Prof. Martin Patt. Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery. http://gvnet.com/humantrafficking/
- U.S. State Department, 2009. Trafficking in Persons Report.http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2009/