The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has secured more than 600 convictions and rescued over 20,000 victims of human trafficking since its establishment in 2003.
This was disclosed by the Zonal Commander of NAPTIP’s Benin Zonal Office, Ganiu Aganran, on Monday during the opening of a two-day awareness workshop for law enforcement agencies in Edo State.
The workshop, organized by the Committee for the Support of Dignity of Women (COSDOW) in collaboration with NAPTIP, aims to strengthen the capacity of security personnel in combating human trafficking.
Aganran highlighted NAPTIP’s five-pronged strategy, known as the *5Ps approach*—prevention, prosecution, protection, partnership, and policies—in tackling human trafficking.
“Since inception in 2003, NAPTIP has secured more than 600 convictions and rescued over 20,000 victims of human trafficking. NAPTIP has worked tirelessly to bring traffickers to justice and support survivors,” he said.
He noted that Edo State remains one of Nigeria’s most affected regions due to factors such as poverty, unemployment, lack of education, and weak law enforcement.
Speaking at the workshop, Professor Eric Okojie emphasized the alarming rate of human trafficking, particularly involving Nigerian women and girls. He noted that the Nigeria Conference of Women Religious was deeply concerned about the exploitation of Nigerian women abroad and was committed to combating the menace.
“In 2020, the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime estimated that 67 percent of people trafficked for sexual exploitation are women, while 46 percent of trafficking victims overall are women,” Okojie stated.
He praised the efforts of women-led organizations in empowering survivors and helping them reintegrate into society.
In her welcome address, the National Coordinator of COSDOW, Sr. Justina Odunukwe, called for active participation in the discussions, stressing the need for collective action to eradicate human trafficking and irregular migration.
“The workshop is a call to action, an opportunity to reaffirm our collective responsibility to end human trafficking and build a safer society where people do not have to take dangerous routes in search of survival,” she said.
