Rep urges FG, states to intensify anti-trafficking awareness

The member representing Aguata Federal Constituency of Anambra State, Dominic Okafor has called on the federal and state governments to intensify awareness campaign against the scourge of human trafficking involving vulnerable Nigerians.

Recalling an experience from his recent trip outside the country, the All Progressives Grand Alliance chieftain lamented the growing incidences of human trafficking, lamenting that while there are adequate laws to address the menace, a lot still need to be done in the area of implementation.

He said, “the essence of moving the motion was to raise that awareness, to escalate the issue so that it shouldn’t just be left for the national, but also for a sub-national governments.

“As a matter of fact, what actually prompted me is that last month, I had to travel to the Middle East with Ethiopian Airline. And while we were boarding in Abuja, I noticed that there were quite a number of young ladies in the same aircraft with me. I was worried.

“I initially thought they were female footballers and all that. So when we got to Addis Ababa, it happened that we had a very long layover. And usually, when you have a long layover, they will put you in their hotel. When we got to the hotel, I was really disturbed.”

He noted that when he interrogated some of the girls, they gave related reasons for travelling, especially the quest for employment.

He continued, “the essence of this motion is to sensitise everyone about the dangers of child trafficking. Like I said, both the sub-nationals and the local governments should also get involved.”

Earlier at a plenary session presided over by the Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas, Okafor described human trafficking as a grave national and transnational crisis, “with women, children and vulnerable demographics disproportionally subjected to commercial sexual exploitation , forced labour, domestic servitude, forced begging, organ harvesting and other degrading and other degrading abuse.”

He said, “The House is concerned that poverty, unemployment, insecurit, displacement, irregular migration and the activities of organised criminal networks have increased the vulnerability of many Nigerians to traffickers who exploit their economic and social circumstances.

“The House is concerned that victims are often deceived with false promises of employment , education, marriage and overseas opportunities, only to be subjected to exploitation, physical abuse, psychological trauma and in some cases, death.

“We are worried that human traficking networks operate across state and national borders, taking advantage of porous borders, inadequate public awareness, weak coordination among relevant agencies and difficulties in identifying and prosecuting offenders.”

Following the adoption of the motion, the House urged the Federal Government to “intensify nationwide efforts to prevent and combat human trafficking through enforcement of existing laws, Intelligence -led investigations and effective prosecution of traffickers and their collaborators.

It also argued the President Bola Tinubu-led government to “strengthen victim identification , rescue, rehabilitation, psychosocial support, legal assistance and reintegration programmes, with particular attention to wome, children and other vulnerable persons.”

The House further urged the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and other relevant security and law-emforcement agencies to “strenghten surveillance, intelligence-sharing and coordinated operations against trafficking networks, including those operating across state and international borders.”

The motion was referred to the House Committees on Human Rights, Police and Interiors for further scrutiny. They are to report to the House in four weeks for further legislative action.