Chief Micheal ONWUCHELU, is the President of Nigerian Community in Cote d’lvoire. Under his leadership, several Nigerian teenagers, particularly female children brought into Cote d’lvoire for prostitution have been rescued and brought back to Nigeria. As much girls that were usually rescued, much more are being trafficked into Cote d’lvoire by the dare devil traffickers. Even so, Chief Michael Onwuchelu says the the Nigerian government is not doing enough to compliment their efforts. He also talked about how Nigerians resident in Cote d’lvoire have been warned to stay away from their Presidential Elections coming up in October.
These and many more, Chief Michael Onwuchelu reveals in this exclusive interview with Elation magazine from Cote d’lvoire on phone.
Excerpts:
How much has the Nigerian Community in Cote d’lvoire under your watch, achieved in terms of rescuing underage children trafficked into Cote d’lvoire from Nigeria?
We are still rescuing this children from the ghetto where they are often kept. We reach out to those who call for our attention, rescue them and send them back to Nigeria. Some of them will tell you that they do not want to go back to Nigeria. Nigerians in Cote d’lvoire are many.
Getting places to also fix them is also a challenge. As of today, the in – flow of Nigerian girls brought into Cote d’lvoire for prostitution is till much.
If you say the number of Nigerian girls being brought into Cote d’lvoire for prostitution is increasing, then some would say your leadership has failed.
No, no, no, no. On the contrary, the Nigerian Community has not failed. The problem is where they are taking off from. That is, the borders of Nigeria. That is where the failure is coming from.
Are you saying the problem is from our security agency at our borders?
Of course, they are the one’s that have failed.
Many believe that the Nigerian Community should have developed a programme in conjunction with the Nigerian government back home to discourage these innocent children from coming to Cote d’lvoire. As result they have failed.
No, no, no, no. We have not failed. We can never fail. One thing I want to make very clear to you is that I am not the President of Nigerian Community in Nigeria. We have written about what is happening in Cote d’ Ivoire and submitted to the Nigerian Government. And it is left to them to act on it. We have done our part. There are a lot of things that I do not want to unfold. Reason is that when someone makes promises and the person refused to keep to them. There’s not much we can do here. For example, it is costing us so much to transport these girls from places they were taken to, back to Abidjan first, before sending them back to Nigeria. Remember that we are not Police. We only collaborate with agencies to ensuring that the right things were done.
Many have argued that most of the traffickers are Nigerians and that the Nigerian Community know them. What have you been able to do to them in terms of prosecution? Have you reported them to the Nigerian government back home? These are some of the questions.
We have done all that. We have done all within our powers. For those we could lay our hands on, we took them to court. How many people are you going to take to court? How many people are you going to send to prison?
How has the relevant agencies been supporting your course in Cote d’ Ivoire?
Agencies in Cote d’lvoire are giving us a hundred percent support. They are doing exactly what they are expected to do. You recall that some months ago, we returned a large contingent of Nigerian girls back to Nigeria via Air Peace. Let me not go into what transpired thereafter. Truth be told. Since that happened, have you seen any other agency that left Nigeria for Cote d’ Ivoire to find out more details about how it all happened. What information can we gather from the Nigerian Community or the Cote d’ lvoire government to know how we could put an end to trafficking. This is a fight for all. But if you left it all to the Nigerian Community, how much would they achieve? Honestly speaking, the Nigerian government needs to wake up.
The number of girls we have sent back to Nigeria since VDM intervened… we have sent back over 100 girls to Nigeria. Does it mean that the agencies at those border point do not give report to the Nigerian government. The Nigeria government need to do something, stand on their feet to save the lives of those innocent young girls.
Are you implying that the support you receive from Nigerian government is not enough?
They have no proof of whatever they claim they have spent on the reparation of the girls or boys sent to Nigeria from Cote d’lvoire. But if they say they have proof, let them present it. I am very sure they did practically nothing.
What is your message to the Nigerian government?
The government of Nigeria should stand up for their responsibilities. You do know that these young girls that people are trafficking are human beings, they are Nigerians and future leaders of the country. To make sure that the international borders where these girls are taken through are very well secured. The next message is to parents of these children. Please, whenever your children or wards say they are traveling out of Nigeria with someone, be very sure of whom you are handing them over to. Otherwise, you might be handing these girls to relations that could leur these girls into prostitution, thinking that your daughter is out there for greener pasture. You would not know that these girls lives are being destroyed.
Ivorian Presidential election is by the corner. As President of Nigerian Community, what is your discussion with those Nigerians under your watch?
Very soon, in October to be precise, the presidential election in Cote d’lvoire will take place. The office of Integration in Cote d’lvoire called on our attention, while addressing all strangers resident in Cote d’lvoire to tell us that their election is for their citizens. And that all non citizens should stay away.
