The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has revealed that Nigerians seeking greener pastures in the developed world have resorted to travelling through smugglers and travel facilitators.
The UN agency said Nigerians resorted to this because of visible obstacles to travelling abroad which include slim chances of getting visas, requests for bribes, and security measures of travelling to developed countries.
In the research from the UNODC observatory on smuggling of migrants, Nigerians believe there was no other option to being smuggled out of the country.
According to the study, a Nigerian from Edo state said, “These days in Europe and in other Western countries, Nigerians are discriminated against. It is so difficult to get a visa to travel out of Nigeria, and that is why many people opt for the irregular route by travelling through the desert.”
In a report unveiled on Wednesday in Abuja, the agency in partnership with Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) said that the majority of Nigerians revealed that something or someone prompted them to travel.
The report said, “An instructive finding of the research is that 75% of Nigerians on the move surveyed during the work stated that they had planned to use Migrant Smugglers or Travel Facilitators when they were preparing for their journey as compared to 21% who said they had not planned to do so.
“The Report further indicated that 72% of those surveyed stated that someone or something influenced their decision to migrate while just 9% of that group cited smugglers as the most important influence.
“On gender profiling of Migrant Smugglers, the report stated that 78% are men, 19% are women and 3% both. The Observatory Report was done by some researchers under the auspices of UNODC.”
