Social networks fuel human trafficking, according to NAPTIP

• The group wants to control the influx of young foreigners
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has claimed that social media is fueling human trafficking in the country, urging stakeholders to unite against the menace.

The Director General of NAPTIP, Imaan Suleiman Ibrahim, made the allegation yesterday in Keffi, Nassarawa State, during a two-day capacity building workshop for social media managers.

The event, aimed at raising awareness against trafficking, was organized by Action Against Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants (A-TIPSOM), a project funded by the European Union (EU) and implemented by the Spanish Public Foundation (FIIAPP).

Ibrahim, who stressed the need to involve stakeholders in protecting young people, especially women, from falling prey to traffickers, said social media was increasingly being used to contact and recruit young people and old for the sole purpose of exploitation.

According to her, NAPTIP is being repositioned to be more responsive to the challenges of combating the scourge of human trafficking in all its ramifications.

“As an agency, we stand ready to enlighten these young people and other potential victims about the dangers of being lured by lucrative job offers that seem too good to be true, as we have seen since the start of the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020. . It is our duty as officers and media professionals to continue to effectively use the social media space to preach against human trafficking, migrant smuggling and shut down the online agents of these traffickers.

“I implore everyone to be firm in using social media platforms to carry out public information campaigns and also find better ways to optimize the use of social media by ensuring that victims potential have direct knowledge of the evil games played by these traffickers. ,” she says.

MEANWHILE, the National Chairman of the Network Against Child Trafficking and Abuse (NACTA), Abdulganiyu Abubakar, has raised the alarm over the increasing daily exodus of youths from Niger Republic, Ghana, Mali and Burkina Faso to Nigeria.

He said most of them are taking advantage of the ECOWAS free movement policy to enter Nigeria en masse, stressing the need for member countries to review this policy as it not only promotes human trafficking but also banditry.

Abubakar, who lamented the porosity of Nigeria's borders, stressed the need to control the influx of foreigners and ensure that they do not use the opportunity to bring bandits into Nigeria.