Niger sets up child trafficking, labour task force

The Niger State Government has concluded arrangements to establish a task force as part of plans to tackle various vulnerabilities associated with child Labour, trafficking and others.

The  government made this known during a dialogue on Trafficking, Abuse and Labour organised by Network Against Child Trafficking, Abuse and Labour  Stakeholders Engagement 3.0 in Minna,

The Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajia Hadiza Kuta who made this known said the state was ready to tackle child labour, sexual exploitation, minor mining, domestic servitude, exploitative recruitment and illegal migration.

Kuta said, “As you can see, since this government came on board, we have been trying so hard to see if we can put an end to child trafficking, child labour and abuse.

“So in that mode, we will make sure we do all we can to get the task force ready, as soon as possible,” she said.

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The immediate past Coordinator National President NACTAL, Abdulganiyu Abubakar, disclosed that Niger State is a transit route for trafficking and it would be best to set up a task force to ensure our children are off the streets and our people are not trafficked illegally.

During his presentation, titled “The need to establish a Niger State Task Force on Human Trafficking,” the representative from NAPTIP, Moses Unongo revealed that 32 states already have task force but four, including Niger State have yet to establish a task force.

He blamed the lapses in tackling the challenges on fragmented interventions by various stakeholders, limited information sharing, overlapping responsibilities, weak referral mechanisms and limited coordination.

The immediate ex-Niger State Coordinator Olasukanmi Kalejaiye and his successor Stephen Adeoye both called on stakeholders to work closely to tackle the menace which they said has eaten deep into  the fabric of the