Sunday Okobi
As part of activities to commemorate the World Day against Human Trafficking, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), International Organisation on Migration (IOM), Expertise France, International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policies (FIIAPP), and Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) have partnered the Nigerian Government to host a ‘boot camp’ for state task forces on human trafficking and the Network of Civil Society Organisations against Child Trafficking, Abuse and Labour (NACTAL).
Funded by the governments of the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United States as well as the European Union, the boot camp is organised under various projects being implemented by international development partners in cooperation with NAPTIP.
The organisers stated that the theme for this year’s day against human trafficking is based on the use and abuse of technology, which focuses on the role of technology as a tool that can both enable and impede human trafficking.
The 2020 UNODC Global Report on Trafficking in Persons reported that the use of internet has been integrated into the business model of traffickers. The expanded global usage of technology triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic has further increased these risks, with traffickers using the internet to identify, recruit and control their victims, advertise services and launder the proceeds of their crimes.
The peer review ‘boot camp’ is organised for the 21 states which have inaugurated task force against human trafficking namely: Akwa-Ibom, Anambra, Benue, Borno, Cross-river, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Jigawa, Lagos, Kaduna Kano, Katsina, Nasarawa, Ogun, Ondo, Oyo, Plateau and Rivers.
The organisers said the key objective of the boot camp was to bring together the members of the state task forces on human trafficking with the leadership of NAPTIP, relevant NGOs active in the fight against trafficking and international development partners to engage in a peer-to-peer exchange of experiences.
In his good will message, the Country Representative of United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Dr. Oliver Stolpe, underscored the critical role of the State Task Forces.
According to him, “Most of these victims, their families and communities can only be reached through communication channels at the grassroots. Mobilising the states, local governments and eventually communities is key.
“Members of the State Task Forces are the first and most essential link in the chain needed to effectively translate the federal government’s policies, and most notably the recently adopted National Action Plan on Human Trafficking 2022-2026 into practical outcomes on the ground.”
Declaring the event open, the Director-General of NAPTIP, Dr. Fatima Waziri-Azi, noted that human trafficking is a national crisis, as all states in Nigeria are affected by human trafficking.
“NAPTIP statistics from 2019-2022 and analysis shows that 61 percent of human trafficking in Nigeria happens internally-that is, within the states and across state lines, while 39 percent across our borders,” she said.
