Sojourning in a Strange Land: Fictionalising the Evils of Human Trafficking in Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo’s Trafficked

Abstract

Aim of the Study: Migration and trafficking of African men and women started about 1441. As time went on, over the years, it developed into sex trafficking and sex slavery of women, children and girls into Europe. In Nigeria today, many women and girls have been victims of trafficking and exploitation. Most of them are deceived into thinking that jobs are waiting for them in Europe and so, they willingly accept to migrate only to discover later that it is all a ruse. This is a blatant violation of the fundamental rights of these individuals who face untold hardships and various levels of exploitation and torture. Many countries in the world, including Nigeria, have risen to fight this ugly phenomenon. One of such efforts of the Nigerian government to eradicate this canker worm is the approval of various NGOs like WIN, WRAPA and WOTCLEF to rehabilitate the deported victims and reabsorb them back into the Nigerian society through various skills acquisition. Most Nigerian writers, especially novelists, have continued to document this contemporary reality in their fictions.

Methodology: This paper attempts to discuss in detail, how Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo has fictionalized the issue of sex trafficking and sex slavery and their evil repercussions in her novel, Trafficked and how she has shown the efforts of one of the NGOs, Oasis Youth Centre for Skills Development (OYCSD) in the fight for the elimination of sex trafficking and sex slavery.

Findings: The paper reveals that the author, through the novel, has educated and informed her readers on the danger of this anomaly and the need to desist from it.

Conclusion: It is also discovered that trafficking or sojourning to the foreign lands is not only for sex trafficking, but willingness on the part of Nigerians to seek good lives and greener pastures and escape insecurity and inhuman treatments meted on them by the misruling political leaders.