Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says the Federal Government is proud of the achievements recorded so far by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and other Related Matters (NAPTIP).
Osinbajo said this in Abuja at the closing of NAPTIP’s one-week celebration of the 2022 World Day against Human Trafficking organised by the agency in collaboration with the International Centre for Migration Policy Development.
Represented by Adeola Ipaye, Deputy Chief of Staff to the President in the Office of the Vice President, Osinbajo called on the youths to make the change even where they had hitherto fallen short.
Osinbajo also said it was on record that the Federal Government had continued to deploy the necessary political will in the fight against human trafficking by providing direction and support to NAPTIP.
“As a government, we are proud of the achievements already recorded by NAPTIP, her partners and other stakeholders but I am here to urge that we all must do more.
” I am persuaded that with more support from everyone including the private sector as already evident in this year’s collaboration, more will be achieved and Nigeria and the world will be better for it.
“It is on record that this administration has continued to deploy the necessary political will in the fight against human trafficking by providing the direction and support to NAPTIP and other critical stakeholders to make Nigeria a human trafficking-free nation,” he said.
Earlier in her address of welcome, the Director General of NAPTIP, Dr Fatima Waziri-Azi, said the agency, since its inception, had secured 530 convictions, with 36 in 2022.
Waziri-Azi said the theme, “Use and Abuse of Technology,’’ was apt, adding that it underscored the dynamism of the crime of human trafficking and the growing use of online interactions as an efficient enabler.
The NAPTIP boss said that while technology was frequently misused to facilitate trafficking in persons, its positive use helped in combating trafficking and supporting anti-trafficking work.
The Network Against Child Trafficking, Abuse and Labour also commended NAPTIP and other partners for the elevation of Nigeria to Tier 2 in the 2021 Trafficking in Persons report.(NAN)
