• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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NAPTIP rescues 615 victims of human trafficking

660 human trafficking victims rescued in 16 yrs in Edo- NAPTIP

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Person (NAPTIP) says it has rescued 615 victims of human trafficking in Katsina State from January 2022 to date.

Musa Aliyu, the NAPTIP commander in Katsina, stated this while briefing newsmen on Saturday to mark World Day against trafficking in persons. The theme for this year’s celebration is “use and abuse of technology”.

Aliyu said that NAPTIP received the victims in collaboration with stakeholders from the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), the Nigeria Police Force and the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) operating in the state.

He advised Nigerian youths not to be carried away by the lure of “greener pasture”. According to him, the theme focuses on the use of technology as a tool that can enable and impede human trafficking.

On his part, Shola Babadiya the state coordinator of the Network Against Child Trafficking, Abuse and Labour (NACTAL), described cyber technology as an avenue used by human traffickers to further their nefarious activities.

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He pointed out that the traffickers use cyber technology to not only mobilise and recruit their victims but also arrange for their transportation and logistics.

Babadiya called on Nigerians to be wary and always collaborate with NAPTIP to end human trafficking in the state.

Rabi’ah Muhammad, the state commissioner for women affairs, urged media practitioners to intensify awareness campaigns against human trafficking.

“Especially among the general public on the ills of human trafficking amid the tactics employed by traffickers in luring victims into their nets,” she said.