BY ANKELI EMMANUEL, Sokoto –
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking In Persons (NAPTIP) has secured the conviction of no fewer than 530 persons for human trafficking in the country.
The Commander, Benin Zonal Command of NAPTIP stated this in his welcome remark at the ongoing 3 day workshop in Edo State organized by NACTAL.
The 3 day training was organized by Network of Civil Society Organizations Against Child Trafficking, Abuse and Labour (NACTAL) with support from United States Agency for International Development and Nigeria Strengthening Civic Advocacy and Local Engagement (USAID-SCALE) Project for media practitioners drawn from States of Benue, Edo, Enugu, Borno, Lagos, Taraba, Cross River and Sokoto respectively.
While noting that majority of those convicted were for sexual exploitation, Nduka said, the rest were for various offences that falls within the confines of trafficking.
He clarified that human trafficking is a criminal case against government, adding that prostitution is not human trafficking rather the exploitation involved.
Nduka therefore defined exploitation to include exploiting someone for prostitution in the forms of sexual, deprivation of the offsprings of a person, fixed labour or services, practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.
He listed the causes of trafficking to include but not limited to poverty, illiteracy and ignorance, demand for cheap labour, increasing demand for sex workers, low wages, economic hardship, parental pressure, peer groups influence, as well as get rich quick scheme.
He also appealed to all and sundry to note that they are important in the fight against trafficking in persons
Speaking earlier in his opening remarks, the National President of NACTAL, Abdulganiyu Abubakar admitted that the media is critical in the fight against Trafficking In Persons (TIP)
Mr. Abubakar further noted that, the theme of the training, “Improving Coordination and Implementation Capacity of CSOs On Controlling Trafficking In Person (CTIP) in Nigeria” is apt.
He noted that NACTAL have trained over 200 agencies ranging from security personnel and others on why they should be critical stakeholders and unrelenting advocates of ending human trafficking.
On his part, the National Secretary of NACTAL, Mr Osita Osemene also disclosed that traffickers mostly depends on the peculiarity of the regions involved.
Giving overview and objective of the training, Mr Olayemi Samuel, NACTAL Project Manager, Nigeria said the training will amongst others increase media practitioners knowledge on the menace and intensify public awareness campaigns against TIP.
Other objective also include, helping to strengthen the capacity of media practitioners on developing useful contents, reporting, and fostering synergy among themselves to help become advocates against human trafficking.
Mr Olayemi further noted that NACTAL has been able to conduct a baseline report on knowledge and capacities of frontline actors, training manual, service providers directory, stakeholders and coordination protocol.
“”NACTAL having presence in all the 36 States of the federation and Federal Capital, Abuja, has 8 States as its target for the the TIP project”” he stressed.
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