The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, and the Canadian Government are collaborating on a counter-trafficking project in continuous effort to reduce human trafficking and irregular migration in the country.
The Director General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, Professor Fatima Waziri-Azi, disclosed this at a joint press conference in Abuja, Nigeria’s Capital.
at reducing the incidences of human trafficking in Nigeria and address issues of irregular migration.
While the DG of NAPTIP rolled out some of the modest achievements of the Agency, in the areas of awareness creation, policy development, victims support,
3/4 pic.twitter.com/fANKs0Osz8— NAPTIP (@naptipnigeria) February 21, 2023
Professor Waziri-Azi explained that trafficking has been identified as the second largest transnational organized crime in the world and as such, the need for countries to take proactive steps in combating the crime cannot be over-emphasized.
According to the Director-General, the project will strengthen operations of the Agency in tackling human trafficking, prosecuting violators and supporting the victims of trafficking.
Listing the scope of the project which covers but not limited to the “redesigning and redeveloping the NAPTIP’s I-reporter mobile application; a tool for reporting cases of human trafficking, child labour and violence against persons, offline community visits and sensitization campaigns in endemic parts of the country and along known trafficking and smuggling routes, capacity building for NAPTIP’s Public enlightenment and Public relations offices” amongst others, the Agency’s Director-General noted that more can be achieved in partnership.
“This collaboration with the Canadian government has further reinforced the fact that we can only win this fight by working together with a common vision. The partnership will enable Nigeria to keep pace with an accelerated world and also set the pace for other nations to follow in this global fight against human trafficking.”
Canada’s High Commissioner to Nigeria, Jamie Christoff, explained that the impact of human trafficking in Nigeria could not be ignored due to the parties involved in aiding the crime.
He however, gave an assurance that the Canadian government would continue to work closely with NAPTIP, domestic law enforcement agencies, international parties, and source and transit countries to combat trafficking organizations.
Christoff added that the project with the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons would focus on training in strategic fields of migration, strategic communications and tackling challenges of modern slavery and human trafficking
“The training will enable local migration with border management authorities to use evidence-based methods to identify individuals at risk with human trafficking and design targeted strategic communication campaigns designed to evaluate the campaigns to prevent human trafficking.”
