Help fight human trafficking, NAPTIP urges Ogun border communities

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons has urged residents of border communities in Ogun State to collaborate with authorities in the fight against human trafficking and violence against persons.

The agency also warned Nigerians against online recruitment offers and other attractive promises from suspected traffickers, noting that trafficking now takes different forms, including sexual exploitation, organ harvesting, sextortion and child trafficking.

The Ogun State Commander of NAPTIP, Bose Jimoh, made the call on Friday at a two-day town hall meeting and community engagement on Trafficking in Persons and Violence Against Persons held in Idiroko, Ipokia Local Government Area.

The meeting was organised in collaboration with the International Centre for Migration Policy Development and attended by traditional and religious leaders, community development committees, youth groups, market women, transport workers, security agencies and other stakeholders.

Jimoh said the engagement was aimed at equipping community members and other stakeholders with information needed to identify and report suspected cases of trafficking.

“Victims of human trafficking are usually recruited from the communities for exploitation within or outside the country.

“Hence, the capacity building which is being done in partnership with ICMPD and funded by the Kingdom of the Netherlands is to ensure that these key stakeholders are well equipped with sufficient information so that when they see the red flags, they can quickly raise the alarm and get such cases of human trafficking reported, and action will be taken immediately.

“And it is also important to say that Idiroko being a border community is very critical. That is where most victims of human trafficking are usually taken through one of our major international borders,” he stated.

The NAPTIP commander warned that traffickers were constantly adopting new methods to exploit victims, urging residents to remain vigilant and report suspicious activities.

Also speaking, the Project Officer of ICMPD and coordinator of the School Anti-Trafficking Education and Advocacy Project, Samuel Okoroji, said the engagement was part of efforts to sensitise residents of border communities to trafficking and violence against persons.

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He said ICMPD was implementing two projects under the initiative: the Trafficking in Persons and Violence Against Persons project and the School Anti-Trafficking Education and Advocacy Project.

Okoroji said Idiroko was deliberately selected because border corridors were vulnerable to trafficking due to their role as entry and exit points.

“We have come to this community to enlighten everyone, especially along the border corridors, because we discovered that the border corridor is a very strategic place for trafficking because of the international entry and exit,” he said.

He said the town hall was also designed to promote community participation in the prevention, reporting, referral, arrest and prosecution of trafficking and violence against persons cases.

He added that the engagement would produce a communique through which stakeholders would speak with one voice against trafficking and violence against persons in Idiroko and neighbouring communities.

According to him, ICMPD and its partners would also provide stakeholders with a compendium of service providers in Ogun State to support the referral of trafficking and violence cases and victims.

The Ajiroba of Idiroko, Chief Afolabi Ogunsina, commended NAPTIP and ICMPD for organising the engagement, saying the training would strengthen community support for efforts to tackle human trafficking.

At the end of the meeting, the 102 participants resolved to intensify prevention activities through sustained awareness campaigns on trafficking and violence against persons in religious centres, schools, markets and other public spaces.

They also pledged to discourage factors that drive trafficking and violence against persons in Ogun State, including harmful cultural and religious practices.

The participants further resolved to strengthen community surveillance, particularly along transit routes, to identify and report suspicious activities linked to trafficking and violence against persons to the relevant authorities.