NAPTIP Rescues 132 Victims Of Human Trafficking In Akwa Ibom

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons,Uyo Zonal Command, said it has rescued at least 132 victims of human trafficking in Akwa Ibom State in the last eight months.

The Agency’s Director-General, Dame Okah-Donli, said this on Thursday, in Uyo, the state capital, while fielding questions from newsmen at a media briefing during her official visit to the state.

She said, “Since 2020, NAPTIP in Akwa Ibom State has rescued 132 human trafficking victims. 40 of them were rescued from sex exploitation, 28 were from baby sellers, 23 from labour exploitation while the remaining were for other sundry exploitation issues.

“Those rescued ranges from 05-34 years. The record shows 40% of them were from Oron Local government because of its strategic trade location as a gateway to the Atlantic Ocean.”

The DG explained that her mission in the state was to inaugurate the Akwa Ibom State Task Force on Human Trafficking and also meet with stakeholders including traditional rulers, faith-based organisations, the civil society as well as non-state actors in the fight against human trafficking.

According to her, the task force is a component of the agency’s strategic thrust aimed at expanding its frontiers and enhance robust partnership in the fight against human trafficking in the country.

“The overall objective of the task force is the coordination and reactivation of technical inter-agency cooperation meetings with key stakeholders including donors, development partners, law enforcement agencies, MDAs and NGOs to enhance the capacities of state and non-state actors as well as multi-sectoral response towards improving partnerships.

“These partnerships are aimed at the prevention of human trafficking, protection of victims of human trafficking, offer access to justice for victims of trafficking, prosecution of traffickers and to enhance the process of successful restoration of victims of trafficking to the state of physical, psychological, social, vocational and economic well being,” Okah-Donli added.