The Anambra State Governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo has declared war against human trafficking.
As a consequence, he has approved the state’s action plan on human trafficking.
Soludo announced the approval during the State executive council meeting at the State Government House, Awka, recently.
This followed the formal presentation of the document to the council by the Attorney General of the State, Prof Sylvia Ifemeje, who is also the Chairman of the State Taskforce.
The Anambra State Commander of, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons NAPTIP, Mrs. Ibadin Judith-Chukwu hailed the state governor for approving the action plan.
She said with the approval, the task force would be fully equipped for the war against human trafficking.
She said, “By this, the task force is now fully equipped to source for funding from donor agencies and development partners and to receive funding from the state government.
“This has also given visibility to the task force before everybody fighting human trafficking in the state.”
She commended the input of the state Attorney General towards getting the action plan approved.
Chukwu, who is also the co-chairman of the state task force, said by the approval, Anambra State had joined the rest of the states in Nigeria that had taken a cue from the National Workplan on human trafficking. She said it had boosted the capacity of the NAPTIP to deliver on its mandate.
The state NAPTIP boss also called on the state governor to assist the command with a befitting accommodation, to enable it to perform optimally.
She added, “It is unfortunate that despite the enormous task we do, we do not have a befitting workspace in Anambra. If we are not well-accommodated, how can we fight this crime?
“We arrest suspects and we receive victims. If we do not have a conducive environment where we habour the victims for psychological evaluation and rehabilitation, how can we do that?
It will not augur well for the action plan, that we are not well-equipped in terms of accommodation.”
Dominica Nwabufo
