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Data obtained from the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons revealed that the agency rescued no fewer than 1,660 trafficked persons during the year.
While the agency solely rescued 190 Nigerians from 13 countries across the world, including Mali, Libya, and the United Arab Emirates, among others, the agency rescued another 1,470 victims in collaboration with sister agencies.
The PUNCH reports that NAPTIP is a Federal Government agency established to fight trafficking of persons and other similar violations of rights. Since its inception in 2003, the agency noted that it had investigated over 10,000 cases of human trafficking and prosecuted over 500 defaulters.
In a report made available to our correspondent in Abuja, which captured the activities of NAPTIP in the past year, the agency noted that “190 trafficked victims were rescued from various foreign countries. 49 victims, representing 25.8% of the total victims, were rescued from Mali, followed by Burkina Faso, where 40 (21.1%) victims were rescued. The United Arab Emirates had a total of 30 victims; the Benin Republic had 27 (14.2%) rescued victims, and Ghana had 19 victims.
“The foreign countries with the least number of rescued victims are Cote d’Ivoire, Iraq, and Gabon, which have one victim each.” Giving a further breakdown of the rescued victims, the agency noted that four Nigerians were rescued from Oman, nine from Togo, four from Libya, and two from Sierra Leone.
Speaking further in the report, NAPTIP said, “The agency in collaboration with other organisations rescued a total number of 1,470 victims of human trafficking. NAPTIP rescued 750) victims, which represents 51.0%, Nigeria Immigration Service rescued and referred to the agency 175 (11.9%) victims, followed by the Nigeria Police Force, which rescued 113 victims, representing 7.7% of the total number. “147 victims were rescued by concerned citizens, while UNHCR and FIDA rescued one victim each.”
A gender activist, Rita Eseohe, who commended the agency, also called for swift prosecution of traffickers. Speaking with our correspondent, Eseohe also faulted citizens who jump on “abroad” promises made by individuals. She said, “That is a good development by NAPTIP. However, it is not just about rescuing, traffickers need to be arrested and prosecuted as well.
“Also, there is a need for citizens to be sensitised to this ‘travelling abroad’ trend. Most citizens fall into this trap simply because they want to travel outside Nigeria and work. Most citizens don’t even have much information about the country they are going to; all they know is that they are travelling abroad. NAPTIP also needs to engage in more sensitisation; the battle is far from over.”
