By Lawrence Enyoghasu
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has announced that since the establishment of the agency in 2003, it has rescued about 18,000 victims and 516 human traffickers convicted.
The Director, Public Enlightenment, NAPTIP, Mr Joshua Emerole, who stated this at a seminar yesterday, in Asaba, Delta State, added that 13 victims had graduated, while three are currently working with the agency.
“Trafficking in person was a very big problem in Nigeria, but, today, the enlightenment has changed because people called us for matters that were not trafficking, because they saw people packed in a car. Before NAPTIP came, nobody had been convicted for trafficking, but we have about 517 convictions. Even other countries are seeking partnership with us. About 18,000 victims have been rescued. The Civil Society Organisations have been merged and are monitored unlike when they were disjointed, which led to fraudulent CSOs. It is part of our achievement.
“Our Director General, Fatima Waziri, is not a person you see in the media, but a silent worker. She is currently working on something that would benefit NAPTIP. Recently, she had a seminar with judges and it is a plus for us because some judges didn’t know what was trafficking, which led to the type of judgement they gave traffickers,” he stated.