Lagos State Government says it will collaborate with the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) on the fight against human trafficking.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State gave the assurance on Monday, when NAPTIP’s Director-General, Hajia Imaan Suleiman-Ibrahim, led members of the management team on a courtesy visit to the State House, Ikeja.
Sanwo-Olu said that the unabated trafficking in persons presented a threat to the country, hence, the state would lend more support to NAPTIP to rehabilitate victims and prosecute traffickers.
He said the state would be reaching out to the agency for support in human capital requirements and operation space to boost the agency’s response to the crime.
The governor said that the government had strengthened social awareness in communities to discourage trafficking and other forms of human rights abuses.
According to him, Lagos has raised its investment in attending to psychosocial needs of victims of abuses and granting them protection from their abusers.
”Human trafficking indeed presents a deadly trend in our society and we need to protect our citizens, especially the vulnerable in our communities. For those who have fallen victims, we must stand up and protect them.
”The support and collaboration which the NAPTIP has enjoyed from Lagos State government can be strengthened. through the Ministry of Woman Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.
“We have rendered support to NAPTIP in terms of human and material requirements for your zonal office,” he said.
Sanwo-Olu said that Lagos was ready to boost its collaboration with the agency in other areas of support, adding that the state government would work closely with NAPTIP to rehabilitate victims and equip them with skills that would make them self reliant.
Earlier, Suleiman-Ibrahim said that Lagos state remained strategic to the fight against human traffickers, because of its proximity to international borders, which made the state prone to trafficking activities.
She said that Nigeria remained a fertile ground for recruitment of trafficked persons, adding that victims had been turned to commodities.
”We cannot fight traffickers from skeletal locations; this is why we are deepening our engagement with states to stop trafficking and those behind the dehumanising trade,” Suleiman-Ibrahim said.
The NAPTIP director-general said that in spite the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, 300 people were rescued from being trafficked, with about 50 cases still pending in court.
(NAN)
