Curbing human trafficking: NAPTIP lauds Enugu State Government’s efforts

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has lauded the efforts of the Enugu State Government aimed at curbing the incidence of human trafficking and irregular migration.

The Commander of NAPTIP in the Southeast Zone, Mrs Nneka Ajie, commended the state on Monday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu.

Ajie, who spoke on the sidelines of the 2022 World Day Against Human Trafficking, said that the state government had shown the political will to end the crime in the area.

She expressed concern that despite the rising incidence of human trafficking and irregular migration in the South-East, most state governments in the area had not taken it seriously.

She said that Enugu happened to be the only state in the zone that had supported NAPTIP financially and with other logistics in its crusade against the menace.

The zonal commander also said that the state government had inaugurated the Enugu State Task Force on human trafficking and even donated a utility vehicle to NAPTIP.

She said that such support was yielding the desired results in the state as no fewer than 170 suspected traffickers were arrested in the last one year in the state.

“We also owe gratitude to the state government for the success of the 2022 World Day Against Human Trafficking.

“During the event which involved a road walk, the participants which included members of the Civil Society Organisations and other interest groups passionately sensitised members of the public to the consequences of human trafficking and illegal migration.

“We made sure that shop owners and attendants, hawkers, motorists, commuters, children and others were not left out in the enlightenment programme,” she said.

Ajie advised parents and guardians to guide their children and wards always on the positive use of digital devices as traffickers had resorted to the deployment of technology to track their victims.

She called on residents of the state to collaborate with the agency in its efforts to eradicate human trafficking and irregular migration in the state, region, Nigeria and the world.

Ajie advised the perpetrators of such heinous crimes to desist from it or be ready to face the law.