The Federal Government has reiterated its commitment to combat all forms of trafficking in persons.
Mr Nasir Sani-Gwarzo, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs gave the assurance on Tuesday during a News conference to mark the 20th Anniversary of the National Agency for the Prohibition of trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) in Abuja.
Our correspondent gathered that the event was also organised as part of activities marking the 2023 International Day Against Human Trafficking.
Sani-Gwarzo who was represented by the Director, Humanitarian Services Mr Grema Ibrahim, said, the ministry would continue to collaborate with relevant stakeholders to tackle child trafficking and other transborder crimes.
”We are committed to combat all forms of trafficking in persons, irregular migration and child labour.
” We will also continue to collaborate with development partners to fight trans-border trafficking in trafficking” he said.
The Permanent Secretary,however, maintained that the move required a multi-agency and stakeholders engagement.
He,therefore, urged the relevant authorities to support NAPTIP in its quest to ensure perpetrators of the crime are arrested and prosecuted accordingly.
”We call on stakeholders to join hands with NAPTIP to ensure that perpetrators are exposed, arrested, and prosecuted because it is our collective responsibility” he said.
Prof. Fatima Waziri-Azi, the Director-General, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), expressed confidence in the ability of the agency to tackle the challenges of human trafficking.
Waziri-Azi explained that, the two-decades of the agency witnessed a tremendous success and challenges in the fight against trafficking in persons.
”In 20 years, we have seen the crime of human trafficking spread like wildfire, in terms of the enormity, trends and patterns it has not been an easy fight to dismantle this networks, but we remain unshakable.
” It’s been 20 years of growth and reinvention for NAPTIP iterms of scaling our efforts and expanding our reach, operations, collaborations, and partnerships.
”We wouldn’t have been able to achieve a sliver of what we have achieved as a country without the concerted efforts of everyone, including you members of the media.
”One thing I can say too is that Nigeria is better poised to control and tackle human trafficking due to the collaborative efforts of everyone.
She expressed the commitment of her agency to deliver on their mandate.
With agency report.
