Anambra govt, NAPTIP Collaborate To Combat Human Trafficking.
The Anambra government has said it was determined to work with the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) to stamp out human trafficking and other abuses.
Prof. Sylvia Ifemeje, the Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General of Anambra said this at the meeting of the state Task Force on Human Trafficking during a meeting in Awka.
Ifemeje who is the chairman of the Taskforce appealed to all meaning citizens to double their effort towards ending the menace in the state.
She said process was on to get the State Executive Council to approve the two-year ‘State Action Plan on Human Trafficking’, to give the campaign against trafficking political backing
Membership of the Anambra Anti Trafficking Task Force are drawn from the State Ministry of Justice, DSS, Police, FRSC, Civil Society, the Media and Ministry of Women Affairs
Ifemeje said funding was crucial and that the State Government would make some funds available for the Task Force in its 2023 budget.
The Commissioner said awareness and sensitisation would be intensified at the grassroots level to reduce the level of vulnerability among citizens.
“Intensified sensitization should be targetted at the down-trodden and poorest of the poor, who are more vulnerable to the tricks of these criminals due to their desperate search for survival,” she said.
On her part, Mrs Judith-Chukwu Ibadin, the Commander of NAPTIP in Anambra said that the 2022-2023 Action Plan was developed to further strengthen counter-trafficking campaign in the state.
Ibadin who is the Co-Chair of the Task Force,, said the surge in trafficking cases in various forms was turning Anambra into a haven for the criminals.
“The Anambra State Action Plan on Human Trafficking is drawn from National Action Plan while we take care of the peculiarities we have here. It will serve as a guide for the task force in its counter-trafficking efforts,” she said.
Ibadin appealed to task force members to demonstrate greater commitment to the fight and ensure that the gains achieved were not undermined.
She said that since the constitution of the state Task Forces, the global rating of Nigeria and its anti- human trafficking activities had improved.
According to her, much more is solicited from all of us to keep improving our rating from tier two on the watchlist to tier one.
