THE National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking In Persons (NAPTIP) has lauded efforts of collaborating agencies on awareness and tackling human trafficking and other crimes.
NAPTIP Head Sokoto Zonal office, Mr Abubakar Abdullahi-Tabrah, made the remark when he received members of Action Against Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants (A-TIPSOM) and Network Against Child Trafficking, Abuse and Labour (NACTAL) in Sokoto.
Abdullahi-Tabrah assured continue collaboration toward reducing the menace which he described as detrimental to human progress and tarnish the nation’s image.
He escribed the three-day advocacy and sensitisation campaign organised by the two organisations in Sokoto State as a giant stride toward reducing the cases of human trafficking.
Speaking earlier, A-TIPSON Senior Programme Officer, Mr Joseph Sanwo, said the advocacy visit was part of the sensitisation campaign against human trafficking embarked by the organisations.
Sanwo commended NAPTIP and Sokoto State Government on their sustained collaboration in tackling cases of Gender Based Violence (GBV) as well as provision of shelters for survivors.
He said that Nigerians must be vigilant and always conscious of fantastic offers meant to lure them into all kinds of forced labour, adding that they were all lies and deceptive.
Sanwo said the exercise was part of the measures to combat trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants in Nigeria, stressing that the menace needed combined efforts at all levels.
He said vulnerable persons and students were targeted to catch them, noting that the dangers of human trafficking and its consequences were detrimental to human freedom and development.
Also, NACTAL National President, Mr Abdulganiyu Abubakar, said Coordinators from seven northwest states attended the four-day event to stepdown the awareness campaign in their respective areas as Sokoto was chosen as pilot state.
Abubakar explained that human trafficking syndrome had spread to Oman, Lebanon and Gambia besides popular countries.
He said the exercise was to also attract maximum government attention to ensure full implementation of regulations and sanctions against human trafficking.
The event, he said, was to expose people especially teenagers to the term “human trafficking”, its dangers and the emerging tricks in trapping victims.
Abubakar said that when the teenagers were enlightened, it would be difficult for them to be lured by foreign currencies and trafficked.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the team had on Thursday visited Sokoto State Commissioner for Women and Children Affairs, Hajia Kuli Sifawa, on the same advocacy as part of sensitisation campaign.
The team assured the commissioner of more synergy on managing shelters designed for victims of human trafficking, enlightenment campaigns and other measures of tackling human trafficking.
NAN reports that the team comprising leadership and members of A-TIPSOM, NACTAL, NAPTIP and other members of CSOs from seven states in the northwest conducted street rallies, sensitisation campaigns in schools and residents of border communities on the three-day exercise aimed to reduce human trafficking.
A-TIPSOM is a project being funded by the European Union and implemented by Ibero-America Foundation for Administration and Public Policy (FIIAPP) to reduce human trafficking in the country.
The project was part of the 11th European Development Fund (EDF) signed between the EU and the Federal Government of Nigeria. (NAN)
