Bishop Nkuo says government must protect young Cameroonians from traffickers ⁰

A bishop in Cameroon’s war-torn North West region petitioned the government to act on the alarming number of Cameroonians trapped in human trafficking camps in Nigeria.

Bishop George Nkuo of Kumbo said the Justice and Peace Commission of his diocese has confirmed that over 3,000 Cameroonians are trapped in nine traffickers’ camps in Nigeria.

Speaking to The Tablet shortly after handing over a confidential petition to authorities and consular services in Yaoundé, he said further indicators suggest there could be as many as 40 camps affecting over 7,000 Cameroonians.

Like many parts of Cameroon’s English-speaking North West and South West regions, the Diocese of Kumbo has become accustomed to the phenomenon of human trafficking, but the separatist war afflicting both regions has caused an alarming escalation.

“The most critical factor is the closure of government schools. In Bui Division [the administrative area that covers parts of the diocese] alone, 42,000 children were attending government schools. Now, all those schools are closed. These children have nowhere to go – they are left idle and helpless,” Bishop Nkuo said.

“Traffickers are taking direct advantage of this vulnerability. With children out of school and families struggling, people are luring them away with false promises. They tell the children they will provide them with jobs, an education or a ‘better life’ in a ‘greener pasture’. For a child with no school and no prospects, these offers are dangerously appealing. The situation is spiraling out of control.”

He continued: “Our youth should be in classrooms and not in camps. They should be on farms and in industries, not in bondage. They should be in seminaries, workshops and families, not on exploitation expeditions.”

“The promises made to them are entirely false,” said Isidore Njodzeven, deputy head of the diocese’s Justice and Peace Commission.

“They cannot return home because their documents are taken away upon arrival. They can only make calls at designated times, while those monitoring them create a false sense of normalcy.”

Bishop Nkuo said he has written to the governments of Cameroon and Nigeria, drawing their attention to the trafficking crisis: “We believe they are committed to resolving it.”

He said a more sustainable solution depended not just on bringing an end to the separatist crisis, but also creating the conditions for young people to thrive in Cameroon.

Source: The Tablet