The Director General of National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) Dame Julie Okah-Donli, has warned that security officers at the nation’s airports found to aid human trafficking will not be spared no matter the status or rank. She urged officers who perhaps engaged in such evil activity to join hands with the agency to stop the menace.
This just as she disclosed that a sex offenders register being proposed for Nigeria will name and shame culprits when it is eventually launched in the country. The NAPTIP boss who gave the warning at the handover of information, education and communication (IEC ) materials to FAAN at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, said any officer found conniving with traffickers would be arrested and prosecuted to serve as a deterrent to others that the agency’s mandate to reduce human trafficking was child’s play.
“Certainly, this heart rending narrative must be radically changed in order to protect the future of the nation.”
She said the materials given to FAAN were geared towards stepping up their sensitisation of aviation stakeholders especially the passengers to increase vigilance and positive actions to intercept or interrupt suspected human trafficking activities as well as infuse counter – trafficking messages at conspicuous areas at major airports.
Donli said the challenges of human trafficking and illegal migration had become quite enormous that it required new initiatives, which must be developed to ensure sustained successes against the twin monsters.
The NAPTIP boss appealed to airlines and the airport manager to display counter – trafficking messages at the check – in and boarding areas as well as along boarding gates.