The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) said it has rescued 343 victims of trafficking in Benue State within the past two years.
Zonal Commander of NAPTIP, Makurdi zone, Mrs Gloria Bai, disclosed this yesterday at the flag-off of the agency’s empowerment for rehabilitated victims of human trafficking in Makurdi, Benue State.
She said the victims were rescued between November 2020 and June 2022.
She also said the agency has secured at least 20 convictions within the period.
Mrs Bai expressed worry that Benue is becoming one of the new states enmeshed with the menace of human trafficking, stressing the need for awareness creation.
“Before now, Benue was known for labour trafficking as we had most of our children trafficked to neighbouring African countries, such as Mali, Burkina Faso, Senegal and even Ghana.
“Recently, I just had three girls that escaped from Ghana who came back home; we are still trying to see what we can do about the case. We have our girls very young there and those three girls that came back told me that they were many Nigerian girls and Benue girls in Ghana who are into sexual exploitation,” she said.
