Fourteen thousand victims of human trafficking have been rescued, rehabilitated and reintegrated back into their various communities since inception of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons (NAPTIP) in 2003, the Director General of the Agency, Julie Okah-Donli, has said.
Okah-Donli, who made this known on Tuesday at the 2019 World Day Against Huma Trafficking Public Lecture in Abuja, said the Agency had also secured 403 convictions within and outside the country.
She said the Agency had further strengthened the existing collaborations with various partners, as well as formed new alliances on all fronts to boost the fight against human trafficking in Nigeria and beyond.
“Recently, NAPTIP has successfully inaugurated State Task Forces to fight against Human Trafficking in Delta, Ondo and Ekiti States, in addition to the existing Task force in Edo State. We hope to replicate this in all 36 states of the federation, because it aims at getting the State and Local Governments to take proactive steps towards the combat of human trafficking in their domains.”
“It is also pertinent to note that the Agency recently established state Liaison Offices in Bauchi and Gombe States, in addition to the existing Port Harcourt Liaison Office.”
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Justice, Dayo Akpata, while speaking at the event, said human trafficking is a serious violation of human rights and has grown to become widespread and very profitable international crime.
He said although reliable statistics on human trafficking are difficult to obtain, “it is estimated that, at least, three million persons globally are in situations of forced labour, as a result of trafficking and that women make up 56% of the victims of economic exploitation and 98% of those are exploited in commercial sex.
