Human trafficking threat to national security, public safety – DG NAPTIP

Human trafficking threat to national security, public safety – DG NAPTIP

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has warned that human trafficking is a significant and direct threat to national security and public safety by fueling organised crimes.

NAPTIP Director-General (DG), Hajiya Binta Adamu-Bello, made the remarks in Dutse at the launch of a programme aimed at supporting and empowering women and children from Jigawa who are engaged in street begging across Nigeria.

The Voice Media Trust (VMT NEWS) reports that the programme is being implemented Hamadan Kasiran Orphan, Vulnerable and Children OVC Foundation, in collaboration with the Children Education Support Initiative in Arewa (CESIA), championed by Hajiya Amina Nadami, the wife of Jigawa Governor.

The initiative seeks to provide opportunities and support to help them improve their lives and break the cycle of poverty. 

”Child beggars are highly vulnerable to human trafficking, as a sizeable number of them are recruited for various forms of exploitation, organ harvesting or even used in armed conflict,” she said.

Adamu-Bello, represented by agency’s Commander in the state, Mr Abdulkadir Turajo, said NAPTIP, established in 2003, is Nigeria’s only focal agency responsible for fighting the scourge of human trafficking and other related exploitation across the country.

According to her, reports and findings indicate high prevalence of recruitment into terrorism and armed conflict among the victims of human trafficking that are daily transported from rural to urban areas and across the borders for prostitution and hazardous labour.

Adamu-Bello, described human trafficking as one of the world most threat to national security and public safety.

”It fuels public sector corruption, irregular migration, undermines human capital development potentials, causes social break down and exclusion, dearth of capable manpower, human degradation, abuse of human rights, spread of diseases, tarnish national image and other associated financial crimes,” she said.

She decried that trafficking in person has re-emerged in recent times as a modern form of slavery.

She said the recruitment, transportation, within or across borders, purchase, sale, transfer and harboring of persons, involving the use of deception, coercive or debt bondage for the purpose of placing or holding a person in forced or bonded labor, prostitution or in slavery like conditions like begging, is a crime.

“The law recognises this serious violation of children rights, and under the trafficking in persons prohibition enforcement and administration Act, 2015 in Sections 13,15,19 and 20and prescribes a minimum punishment without an option of fine of not less than seven years imprisonment for offenders,” she said.

Read Also: Zamfara PDP urges Matawalle to focus on tackling insecurity

Adamu-Bello said the agency recently rescued 13 female victims in Maiduguri, who were trafficked from Babura town in Jigawa for forced labour and begging.

“NAPTIP Jigawa State Command successfully rescued and reunited 221 victims with their families since it was establishment in 2023,” she said.

She reiterated the agency’s commitment to working with its partners to identify and support victims, while also addressing the root causes of the menace.

“I commend the Hamdan Kasiran OVC Foundation and Children Education support Initiative for their dedication to this cause. Let’s work together to ensure that children and vulnerable population are protected, empowered and given the opportunities they deserved,” She added.

She called for more community awareness programmes on the dangers associated with begging through engagement of religious and traditional institutions in the state.

The director-general assured that the agency will remain committed toward the prevention of all forms of human degradation and exploitation through the coordinated use of the nation’s crime prevention and law enforcement resources, to stamp out human trafficking.

Earlier, the OVC Foundation and CESIA National President, Mr Sa’idu Kaptan, commended the Jigawa governor’s wife for her unwavering support, compassion and commitment to the welfare of vulnerable women and children.

“Your leadership is a beacon of hope and your presence is powerful remainder that change begins with empathy and action,” Kaptan said.

The representatives of Dutse and Ringim Emirate Councils, Alhaji Yusuf Turaki and Alhaji Muktar Wada, respectively, praised the foundation for its efforts in protection vulnerables in the society.