NDE, NAPTIP to empower human trafficking victims

The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) is to commence the training of victims of trafficking and empower them to establish their own enterprises.
This was disclosed recently by the Director General of the NDE, Nasir Argungun, in Abuja at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).

He explained that the principal function of NDE was to train and empower the unemployed and the vulnerable.“We have the mandate and capacity to train and empower all unemployed persons including trafficked persons for self-employment in various fields.

“If you have a centre or a collection point where victims of human trafficking are being counseled and rehabilitated, we shall move in to train them on marketable skills and resettle them with starter-packs for a better life,’’ he said.

Speaking, the Director General of NAPTIP, Julie Donli Okah, said the need to assist victims of human trafficking to find their feet in the society has become urgent and relevant to the success of NAPTIP as an agency.“We counsel and rehabilitate them but because of financial constraints, we have not been quite forthcoming in the area of Training and Resettlement,” she said.

“When we rehabilitate and cannot empower them, it becomes an effort in futility, it is a big challenge to NAPTIP and this is the reason we are happy that the NDE is coming to assist in this aspect,” she stated.

The process towards the realisation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which was consummated by the signatures of the two Chief Executives started four months ago when Argungun and his management team paid a courtesy call on NAPTIP where the two agencies expressed the desire to collaborate in the promotion of self–employment and poverty reduction among victims of human trafficking in Nigeria.

The objectives of the MoU include ensuring that the victims are well trained in demand-driven skills of their choice and are empowered to establish their enterprises.Accordingly, the NDE is expected to train victims of human trafficking rescued by NAPTIP who show considerable level of commitment to become business owners.