The Director-General of National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Dame Julie Okah-Donli,has appealed to Delta State government to assist in curbing the twin menace of human trafficking and irregular migration.
She made the appeal when she paid a courtesy visit on the state governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, in Asaba.
According to her “the problem of human trafficking and irregular migration have become a serious national concern, especially with the large number of Nigerians trapped in sexual and labour exploitation in various African and European countries.”
The NAPTIP boss said apart from the hundreds of them that die in the Sahara desert and the Mediterranean sea, the menace had brought a repulsive image on the country, adding that all hands must be on deck to reverse the trend.
Governor Okowa, in his response, advocated that security agencies should go after those who spread deceitful stories to lure innocent Nigerians.
“We are very disturbed with the number of persons involved in irregular migration; most of them travel oversee because they have been told stories how rosy it is out there and in most cases, these persons find themselves in countries where their economies are not better than that of Nigeria.”
“Security Agencies should look out for those who are carrying out the deceitful messages, they may be operating as cartels or what do you call it? When they stop deceiving people, irregular migration will reduce,” the governor said.
He added, “as a state government, we will carry out enlightenment campaigns because, if you do not take enough time to get our people properly informed, they will go into wrong hands.”
“We have a lot of youth engagement programmes, training and empowerment, butit is unfortunate that the number of people who want to seek greener pastures abroad is still high; we want to appreciate you, NAPTIP, for what you are doing, we want to assure you of our cooperation for irregular migration to be reduced,” Governor Okowa stated.
and then