The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) said it has rescued no fewer than 26,000 victims of human trafficking in Nigeria.

The Director General (DG) of the Agency, Alhaji Binta Adamu Bello, disclosed this at a two-day workshop put together by the Agency in collaboration with the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), implementing the School Anti-Trafficking and Advocacy Project (STEAP), in Asaba, Delta State.

Bello, represented by NAPTIP’s Director of Intelligence (Research and Program Development Department), Mr. Josiah Emerole, said that of the number, over 700 persons have so far been convicted, while 23 of them “have been seen through up to the university levels.”

According to the DG, the agency has employed six of them as full-time staff to help in educating other rescued victims.

He described human trafficking as a credence-based crime, following the difficulty the Agency experiences in the course of prosecuting the arrested traffickers.

Bello stated that most of the time, victims are not ready to speak because the people involved are often family members and those close to their families.

The State Commissioner for Secondary Education, Mrs. Rose Ezewu, applauded NAPTIP and ICMPD for their relentless efforts in combating human trafficking.

Represented by Mackeans Eze, Desk Officer of the State Task Force on Human Trafficking, Ezewu said, “Your commitment to ensuring that our schools remain a safe and secure, nurturing environment for our children is a landmark achievement.”

The International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) Project Manager, Regional Office West Africa, Rhoda Dia-Johnson, said the workshop was organised to train school principals and other stakeholders on how to use reporting tools and other materials in coordinating the activities of the Vanguard under the STEAP project.

Dia-Johnson further said the aim was also to strengthen awareness and enhance stakeholders’ capacity to do the needful with other civil society organisations to prevent trafficking among school-age children.

To achieve these, she said 50 Vanguard groups would be inaugurated in 50 secondary schools across the state.