ITALIAN POLICE ARRESTED 7 PERSONS FOR TRAFFICKING NIGERIAN WOMEN

ROME, Italy Law enforcement in Italy has arrested seven persons in southern Italy on charges of trafficking Nigerian women for prostitution.

Italy’s Carabinieri announced Tuesday that one six Nigerians and one Italian national face charges of human trafficking, trading in slaves, unlawful immigration and forcing women into prostitution.

According to sources, the year-long inquiry was initiated by victims of the trafficking ring.

The victims, many of them Nigerian women, provided evidence of a criminal structure operating in Italy, Libya and Nigeria.

The International Organization for Migrants has recorded a 600-percent increase in potential sex trafficking victims reaching Italy over the last three years, most of them from Nigeria, to over 11,000 last year from under 1,500 in 2014.

Nigeria is a vulnerable nation. With over 180 million people and endemic corruption and massive unemployment, under-development and widespread poverty, its citizens are doing everything they can to survive.

One international expert say the Nigerian government needs a review of its country’s political, social and economic system and determine a reason for the outflow of Nigerians into dangerous setup.