The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and other related matters (NAPTIP) has confirmed that it secured jail terms for 47 persons so far in 2023, adding that 80 persons were also convicted in 2022.
The agency added that it was prosecuting 260 cases in various courts across the country and had come to the rescue of 22,000 victims of human trafficking since inception.
NAPTIP stated this on Wednesday at the World Press Conference organised in commemoration of the 20th Anniversary of NAPTIP and the 2023 World Day Against Human Trafficking held at the agency’s Training and Resource Centre, Abuja.
It would be recalled that the Agency was created on July 14, 2003.
Meanwhile, the Permanent Secretary, the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Dr. Nasir Gwarzo, represented by the Director, Humanitarian Department Affairs Department, Alhaji Grema Ali, lauded NAPTIP over its joint operations with local and international agencies which had led to several arrests, and prosecutions.
“Some milestones of the agency include: 14,813 cases reported; 10,005 suspected traffickers arrested; 623 Convictions (80 convictions in 2022 and 47 in 2023 for now); 260 ongoing cases in various courts across the country; the rescue of close to 22,000 victims of human trafficking,11 ongoing Mutual Legal Assistance cases. Out of the 11, 2 cases are currently being prosecuted in courts in Lagos and Benin.
“Between October and December 2021, Nigeria signed Bilateral Agreements to prevent, suppress and punish, trafficking in persons, especially women and children, with the Republic of Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso,” he said.
The NAPTIP Director General, Prof Fatima Waziri- Azi, said despite the frightening global statistics on the prevalence of human trafficking across the world as released through the 2023 Global Slavery Index, “Nigeria is better poised to control and tackled human trafficking due to the collaborative efforts.”