Influential Diaspora Leaders of Thoughts gathered at the Africa Media Hub in London on Friday 13 April 2018 to deliberate on the impact of rising numbers of modern slavery victims in the African community especially within the Nigerian community in the UK.
The initiative led by African Voice, Britain’s N0.1 African Newspaper is to stem the practice to avoid the devastating effect on the community. Experts from The Salvation Army UK & The children’s charity AFRUCA were on hand to shed light on the cases of abuse and trafficked persons within the African community in the UK.
Veteran Actress Golda John Abiola who moderated the two sessions recorded for Africa Alive, an online broadcast platform of African Voice Newspaper said, the Home Office campaign against Modern Slavery is a crime that the Prime Minister Theresa May emphasised and that we all must notify the Police about suspected victims of slavery or human trafficking.
Bilikisu Savage from AFRUCA urged the community to watch out for a child or teenagers that are of school age and not in school, malnourished, burdened with 24/7 house shores and other responsibilities.
Emilie Martin from The Salvation Army called on the community to assist the work of the charity by being their eyes and the ears, she said, “if you see anything that is not just right please call the confidential helpline 0800 012 1700. If you are a victim, please give us a call, we will help you and take you away from the abusive situation.”
Diaspora leaders on the discussion session, led by Chief (Dr) Sunday Popoola a lecturer at The Imperial College said, “since slavery was abolished some 200 years ago, we should not have this experience again. We all as a community must work to eradicate this atrocity.”
Dr. Popoola advised that we as a community need to pursue, prevent and prosecute the perpetrators of the modern day slavery. He said immigration officers in Nigeria must be trained to spot and question anyone travelling with a child or teenager.
Ronke Alli Udofia, 1st Vice Chair of the Central Association of Nigerians in the UK (CANUK) and champion for AFRUCA said, “the community needs to crack the barrier of silence and build trust among ourselves to help these victims, as our community do not want to talk about these atrocities.”
Ronke reiterated that Modern Day Slavery is mostly perpetuated by criminal gangs, they are out there in Nigeria sourcing victims from vulnerable communities. She said Nigeria is the major source country for domestic servitude in the United Kingdom. We all should join government to create opportunities locally for young people to stem the flow by investing in small businesses to engage our youths.
Actress Roseline Sanni Ajose, a movie producer and an AFRUCA ambassador said, on her part, she is using her movie, In A Strange Land, a true life story on modern-day slavery to enlighten the community. She recommends that parents of potential victims back in Africa should be educated not give out their children for greener pastures.
Roll call of guests in attendance included celebrities from the Nollywood film industry and notable community leaders such as South African politician/activist Lindiwe Tsele, Barrister Godwin Okri, Alex Oma-Pius, Baroness Jumoke Ariyo, Jimmy Eniola, DJ Oluseyi Oke, Nollywood Producer Phillip Dada, Actor/Producers Fred & Titi Aseroma, Vicky Osei and many others.
Africa Alive Talk Series is a monthly discussion session on issues affecting the continent and the Diaspora community. The discussion session holds at the Africa Media Hub in Brixton London and is open to strategic thinkers and Diaspora leaders, powered by African Voice Newspapers UK. To join the next session, please email: marketing@africanvoiceonline.co.uk
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