‘Some Nigerians live like slaves in US’

By Lekan Otufodunrin 6 hours 39 minutes ago

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Bukola Oriola

Bukola Oriola, a Nigerian journalist was a victim of human trafficking in United States. For two years, she was isolated and endured all forms of torture, including hunger, physical, psychological and emotional abuse.

She was traumatized, became depressed and was diagnosed for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Now a survivor, Bukola has dedicated her life to helping others by sharing her story through public presentations. She has written a book on her experience, titled ,Imprisoned: The Travails of a Trafficked Victim to create awareness about human trafficking.

Awarded the Change Maker 2009 by the Minnesota Women’s Press for her courage, Oriola now runs a television programme, Imprisoned Show which also recently won an award.

In an online interview with Lekan Otufodunrin of The Nation Online, Oriola explaines her advocacy work and life in the United States.

Congratulations on the award you won for your programme, Imprisoned. Tell me more about the award and the organization that gave the award.?

The award is the V.I.P Awards by the North Metro TV, a Public Access TV station for the community. A Public Access TV station is an outfit funded by the public where you could take free broadcast classes on how to produce a TV show or work as a crew. You have the opportunity to produce your show free of charge using the station’s equipment and having some of its members volunteer as your crew. As a producer at the station, your work is being assessed. After their assessment this year, I won as a Runner-Up in the Action program category as a producer and Imprisoned Show crew won the Best Crew of the Year.

What informed starting the Imprisoned programme.?

Imprisoned Show was born out of the desire to educate the public about human trafficking. As a survivor, I thought that educating the public about this topic is crucial to prevention. The more we learn about it, the more we are able to prevent ourselves and loved ones from being trafficked. And, I decided to come up with a talk show that puts advocates and organizations in front of the public to explain in the layman’s language what human trafficking really is and the effort they are doing to combat the crime.

America is supposed to be a land of freedom, why are some people in the country still subjected to this kind of inhuman treatment?

America is the land of freedom, however many are victims of human trafficking, including American citizens. It just boils down to awareness. The United States has taken action by passing laws to help victims and even harness awareness campaign. The major one is the Blue Heart Campaign, which is set to reinforce awareness in every community across the United States.

How much has your programme been able to uncover about this practice since you started?

Well, we are trying. Even though it’s been over a year that we started Imprisoned Show, it is still in its baby stage. The crew members are volunteers, so we are taking it one step at a time. Right now, we have been able to produce only seven episodes. We are working on Episodes 8 and 9 and hoping to air eight this month. We have been able in the few episodes, uncover some insane human trafficking activities going on, not only in the United States but other countries including, Nigeria, Spain, United Kingdom, Jamaica with the help of the Department of Homeland Security Daily Reports, which we air in our News Flash segment.

We have had guests such as immigration and criminal lawyers, human trafficking advocacy organization representatives, the County Attorney and Sheriff and academia share what they are doing to help, how people can prevent themselves and loved ones from being trafficked and the way out for victims here in the United States. We are looking forward to having guests from other parts of the world come on the show because human trafficking affects every country around the world. We have a website,www.imprisonedshow.com where people who live outside the airing area within or outside Minnesota can have access to it and be a part of the solution to the problem of human trafficking in our community worldwide. Hopefully, we will be able to get funding as Independent producer and be able to travel for more depth and on the spot report. In the meantime however, we have to appreciate and make use of what we have at our disposal.

There are various segments on the show that we encourage everyone to participate in, including children. Children are the most trafficked. According to the United Nations, 50 per cent of human trafficking victims across the world are children. So we encourage children to learn about this through the Imprisoned Show by making the flag of their country and sending to us on the website.

We also have Advocate Excellence Award where we encourage victims and survivors to nominate their advocates for the efforts they are putting into rescuing and restoring victims of human trafficking.

And the Tribute to Victims and survivors is for everyone to participate in by sending poems, songs or even letters to read to console these people. And we light a candle to respect those who have lost their lives as a result of human trafficking.

How are Nigerians in US affected by this human trafficking practice?

Nigerians are affected by human trafficking here in the United States as a result of fraud. I encourage everyone going into long distance marriage to know that this happens and it could happen to anybody. However, if they find themselves in a situation like this, there is help available. There are many Nigerians – men and women working while their spouse are collecting the money like in my case. They just live as slaves and they are being threatened daily with immigration and police. There are those who are here to go to school but are locked in the house as domestic maids babysitting and being maltreated by family members they knew from Nigeria. So, a trafficker could be a parent, sibling, or extended relative. Also, there are older people like grandmas and grandpas in similar situations, locked up to babysit with little or no care.

What is your advice to Nigerians to avoid becoming victims?

My advice is for the media to help create awareness that will help the people back home understand. Stigma will only add salt to the injury but advocacy will make the community embrace learning and wanting to prevent the crime.

For those who want to come the US, they need to know that they will not be able to function and live freely as illegal immigrants (meaning when they go out of status - visa expiring), and for those who come through spousal or fiancée visas will have to go back home if the person who filed for them changes his mind after they are already here.
Those who get status on humanitarian grounds have to prove that they have been abused and they will be investigated to be sure their claim is true.

You also had a personal experience of being trafficked, how have you been able to overcome the harrowing experience?

I am grateful to God almighty who has helped me by giving me a second chance to live to tell my story. It was a horrific experience but I believe everything happens for a purpose. The purpose for which I passed through the experience is what I am doing right now – advocating and creating awareness by educating the public with Imprisoned Show. I also go out for public presentations and I have presented in over a hundred places since 2009, including universities, churches, small groups, and so on. I have granted several media interviews and also have been contacted by students across the United States for their school projects learning about the topic of human trafficking. In fact, I was contacted by someone from Nigeria too who wanted to give a presentation on human trafficking. So, I believe God sent me just like he did when Joseph’s brother sold him into slavery twice in order to save his generation from dying of hunger. Very soon, we will be working on a documentary on Imprisoned: The Travails of a Trafficked Victim, the book I published in 2009 was about my personal experience.

What is the reality of living in America as a Nigerian?

Well, it is a two-sided coin. You can take the opportunities available; run with it to better your life or despise it. It is a country full of opportunities but you have to work hard. There is no brother or sister to run to for freebies. Even though there are resources available, you have to work for it by playing your part and following through with rules. There are no short cuts. You have to put on the garment of patience and perseverance to advance in whatever area you find yourself. The good thing is that there is dignity in labor in the United States even if you are a cleaner. As my people will say: Ise loogun Ise.

Any regrets about going to America?

At this point in my life, I am grateful to God, I have no regrets about coming to America.For those who want to come the US, they need to know that they will not be able to function and live freely as illegal immigrants (meaning when they go out of status - visa expiring), and for those who come through spousal or fiancée visas will have to go back home if the person who filed for them changes his mind after they are already here.
Those who get status on humanitarian grounds have to prove that they have been abused and they will be investigated to be sure their claim is true.