Foundation raises alarm over organ harvesting, child exploitation

Foundation raises alarm over organ harvesting, child exploitation.

Roost Foundation, a counter trafficking, Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) organisaion, has raised an alarm over the trend of organ harvesting and child exploitation in the country.

The Executive Chairman of the foundation, Mrs Julie Okah-Donli, raised the alarm on Monday while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the foundation.

Okah-Donli was onetime Director-General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).

According to her, organ harvesting cases are now on the increase in the country, but people do not really know that it is going on hence they refer to it as ritual killings.

“We have seen a lot of cases that people refer to as ritual murders, but in my opinion, those are cases of organ harvesting. There is a lot of organ harvesting going on now.

“I believe these guys are into buying and selling of organs. We need to raise a lot of awareness which is what we are doing in this foundation.

“We have started raising awareness on organ harvesting because people are very ignorant about it.

“The issue of young children for labour and exploitation is also something of concern. Children are sent in form of way bills; they are sent ahead in buses so that no one can be suspicious.

“The receiver is usually at the motor park waiting to receive the child like a way bill of goods or property. That is how children are trafficked now and people do not know what is going on,” she said.

The chairman, who also said some transporters had idea of the crime, urged Nigerians to speak out about the crime.

Okah-Donli stated that in the last one-year in the foundation had recorded some successes in terms of the purpose of establishing it.

She said within the period, many cases of human trafficking had been reported to the foundation and some of them had been referred to NAPTIP for onward action.

She said that the foundation also had cases of SGBV with some of them referred to NAPTIP while others were handled by it.

Okah-Donli disclosed that there were currently five cases instituted in the court by the foundation on behalf of the victims and were run on probono basis.

She further said that Roost foundation had raised awareness about human trafficking and SGBV in schools, motor parks, hotels and other places, and would continue to do so.

She said the foundation would be partnering Bayelsa Government to open a Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC), where victims could get sycho-social and medical support as such centres were few in the country.

According to her, there are some of the centres without DNA facilities but the one that will be opened by Roost Foundation will have the facility.

She stressed the need for all states to have SARCs to take care of victims of trafficking and SGBV.

Okah-Donli, who also called on the public, especially victims of human trafficking and SGBV to patronise the foundation, explained that most of the things done by the organisaion were on pro bono basis.

“Some people don’t know that they can get the service of a lawyer free.

“We need to sensitise people on this. We have a lot of professionals who render their services free such as the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) and Nigeria and National Human Right Commission.