By Vincent Obi
Enugu, June 10, 2024 – The Director General (DG) of National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking In Person (NAPTIP), Prof. Fatima Waziri-Azi, says South East is among the highest in human Trafficking in Nigeria.
Waziri-Azi, represented by the Director of Research and Programme Development at NAPTIP, Mr Josiah Emerole, made the disclosure in Enugu on Monday at a one-day workshop organised by the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), in partnership with NAPTIP.
The DG said that the essence of the workshop was to validate the report of the baseline that was carried out for the advocacy project between NAPTIP and ICMPD, adding that the project caught across five States in Nigeria – Enugu, Edo, Delta, Benue and Ogun.
He said that Enugu was one of the pilot states because of the high rate of human trafficking in the zone, describing trafficking as the second major crime in the world although Nigerians see it as a minor crime.
He encouraged stakeholder to fight it collectively, saying “it is time to say no to sexual exploitation, use of children to make money and organ harvesting because those children are our future hope.”
The NAPTIP boss said the fight against human trafficking is a collaborative one because anybody can be trafficked, both young and adult, in the name of making money.
She urged people to take the campaign to their various communities for effective sensitisation.
In his opening remarks, the Head of West Africa Region, ICMPD, Mr Mojisola Sodeinde, applauded people for taking a significant step in the fight against human trafficking, a blight that had long cast a shadow over their communities, particularly affecting their most vulnerable.
Sodeinde, who was represented by ICMPD’s project Coordinator, Mrs Rhoda Dia-Johnson, acknowledged the presence of their partners from NAPTIP, government officials, educational leaders, and dedicated members of civil society at the event.
He noted that their commitment was fundamental to the success of the school anti-Trafficking Education and Advocacy Project (STEAP).
“The necessity of this project cannot be overstated, with over 75 per cent of trafficked victims in West Africa being minors, as the urgency of our mission is clear.
“Our collective goal is to embed a strong educational framework within our schools that will not only inform and protect our students but will also empower them to be vigilant guardians of their own futures.
The ICMPD is an inter-governmental organization with headquarters in Vienna, Austria, with 20 member states.
Sodeinde said the ICMPD promotes innovative, comprehensive and sustainable migration policies to harmonise and make migration management more efficient.
It also functions as a service exchanged mechanism for governments and organisations, he explained.
“ICMPD does this by using a holistic three-pillar approach – Research, Capacity building and Migration dialogues, funded by the European Union under the framework of the project Support to free movement of persons and migration in West Africa (FMM).”
The FMM West Africa project was co-funded by the European Union and ECOWAS and implemented by IOM, ICMPD and ILO.
Within this context, ICMPD supports NAPTIP to strengthen the agency’s capacity in the areas of training and public education, Sodeinde said.
He said: “Through this action, human trafficking concepts are infused into the school curricula at primary and secondary school levels.
“This innovation was achieved in collaboration with the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC).
“Recently, ICMPD and NAPTIP further collaborated with the National Commission for Colleges of Education to infuse trafficking concepts into teacher training curricula for NCE teachers, while updating the NCE minimum standards to included awareness on the issues of trafficking.
“Today, we embark on a crucial journey starting with the selection of 50 schools in Enugu State that will become the pillars of our project, where young minds will be nurtured to recognize, resist, and report the dangers of human trafficking.
“Our activities will include indepth discussions and collaborations to finalize the schools’ selection and to review and validate our baseline report.
“This report is not just a document; it is a blueprint that will guide our strategies and actions in the coming year.
“As we move forward, let us remember that the essence of our work is to safeguard our future, a future where every child can pursue education without fear, and every community can thrive free from the chains of exploitation,” he added.
In his contribution, the Enugu State Commissioner for Education, Prof. Leonard Mbah, who was represented by his permanent Secretary, Mr Patrick Ochi, promised to take the sensitisation to secondary schools where clubs would be formed to educate students on the dangers.
And the Chairman, South East Traditional Rulers Council, Chief Samuel Asadu, who also spoke at the event, urged the organisation to partner with celebrities for speedy awareness.
