Law on the trafficking of people in the making

More than 200 victims of traffickers of women and children have been sent back to Nigeria from various countries within one month, according to reports received by a presidential committee set up to fight the trafficking of human beings. This was disclosed this week by the chairman of the committee, Minister of State for Justice Musa Elayo Abdullahi, according to 'The Guardian' daily. President Olusegun Obasanjo set up the committee on 23 August, when the president of the Women Trafficking and Child Labour Eradication Foundation (WOTCLEF), presented 33 victims of human trafficking to him. The foundation is headed by the wife of Nigeria's vice president. Abdullahi said the Presidential Committee on Human Trafficking and Child Labour had received reports of 262 other victims of human traffickers repatriated between 21 August and 15 September from countries such as Algeria, Benin, Niger, Saudi Arabia and Spain. The minister was speaking during a visit he paid to the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives to discuss a bill on the establishment of a national agency that would deal with the trafficking of persons and child labour, 'The Guardian' reported. The deputy speaker is sponsoring the bill on WOTCLEF's behalf.