• Partners media, others to end offence
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) says it has secured over 20 convictions for Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) offences and rescued over 3,000 victims so far in 2026.
   
Head of Press and Public Relations, Mr Vincent Adekoye, disclosed this to newsmen in Abuja yesterday, saying that three of the convictions were life imprisonment, and that most of them involved rape. He added that many were also arrested and were being prosecuted.
   
Meanwhile, in a way to tackle the rising SGBV menace, NAPTIP, in partnership with the European Union (EU) and International IDEA, has launched a specialised media corps to drive public communication and enforce legal accountability.
   
The initiative, a part of the EU Support to End Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (ESGBV) programme, was unveiled during a capacity-building workshop in Abuja.
   
Adekoye further disclosed that NAPTIP had expanded its response to SGBV by strengthening collaboration with the police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and relevant ministries, departments and agencies.
   
Stating that the agency was also engaging communities and training frontline responders to strengthen prevention, reporting and response to SGBV, he urged perpetrators to desist from the crime.

Also citing the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Maputo Protocol as relevant instruments for protecting victims’ rights, Adekoye said NAPTIP’s recent inauguration of an SGBV media corps was aimed at securing stronger media support in the fight against the crime.
   
Therefore, he urged the media to ask why cases are rising, and examine the roles of critical institutions, customs, norms, behaviours and habits in addressing the problem,” while also adopting victim-centred reporting that protects survivors’ dignity, privacy and safety.
   
Speaking at the inaugural session for journalists from the FCT and Kaduna, gender expert and facilitator, Toyin Adewale-Gabriel, said the goal is to promote positive norm changes and address emerging trends, particularly technology-facilitated SGBV.
   
She urged media practitioners to move beyond episodic reporting and consistently keep the issue on the front burner to ensure the strict enforcement of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) (VAPP) Act of 2015.
   
She noted “a huge gap in knowledge, information, and in keeping the issue on the front burner. We need to support the enforcement of the VAPP Act by promoting information on the Act and its power to hold perpetrators accountable.”
   
Highlighting the need to track convicted sexual offenders who are missing from the national sex offenders register, she charged the media to hold the government accountable through investigative journalism.
   
Stressing the need for a structured mentoring process, she emphasised the imperative of reporting survivor-centred and evidence-based stories always while protecting all survivors and their confidential sources.
   
Also speaking, Adekoye, who represented the NAPTIP Director-General, Binta Bello, emphasised the need for media professionals to adapt to the evolving and sophisticated tactics of perpetrators, stating that traffickers and rapists are no longer on a normal routine.