NAPTIP: 13,000 NIGERIANS EVACUATED FROM LIBYA

Nigeria’s National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), has evacuated more than 13, 000 Nigerian illegal migrants to Libya between November, 2017 and January 2018. Another 5,035 persons have also been documented and slated for evacuation. This was disclosed by Mr. Nduka Nwanwenne, Zonal Commander for Edo and Delta States,  on Wednesday in Ubiaja, Esan South East Local Government in Edo State, during an advocacy and sensitisation visit to educational centers in the area.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the campaign was being facilitated in collaboration with the Global Initiative Against Illegal Migration (GIAIM), a Non-Governmental Organisation.

Decrying the alarming proportions human trafficking has assumed in Nigeria, Nduka stated that  the agency had in its custody about 100 victims trafficked for prostitution from Edo and Delta States alone with at least one person confirmed to be HIV positive. The zonal commander also said that human trafficking went beyond sexual exploitation, as human organs were now being harvested from unsuspecting victims. He therefore admonished the students to shun the quest for quick money and the urge to travel abroad which predators use to lure in their victims into trafficking web. He also called on parents to stop mounting pressure on their children to travel overseas and make money for them.

On his part, Mr. Emmanuel Obinyan, the Executive Director of GIAIM, also rued the damages human trafficking had inflicted on the Nigerian society because of the crave for quick and easy wealth. He advised the students to be dedicated to their studies as the best and easiest way to succeed in life was through education.

NAN reports that 12 schools participated in the sensitisation exercise which took place at the St. John Bosco Secondary School, Ubiaja.