The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has said that pressure from some parents on their children to make money has contributed to the thriving human trafficking crisis in Nigeria.
NDLEA Zonal Commander, Benin Zonal Command, Mr Nduka Nwanwenne, made this known on Friday at the School of Health Technology, Benin, during an awareness on human trafficking.
Nwanwenne stated that unwholesome comparison of children with their peers was another factor contributing to human trafficking in the country.
According to him, comparison and pressure from parents on their children to imitate their peers and go abroad to make money for the family is a major challenge in the fight against human trafficking.
He said “it is not the responsibility of children to make money for their parents or to train their siblings.
“One of the reasons victims allow themselves to be trafficked is because they want to make quick money.
“Our children must be protected because they are priceless. We must train them. Parents should stop mounting pressure on children to go and make money.”
The zonal commander added that peer group influence and poverty were other reasons victims allow themselves to be trafficked.
However, he added that poverty was not peculiar to Nigeria and advised students not to allow peer groups to negatively influence them.
The NAPTIP official noted that globalisation, the internet and social media were traffickers’ means of recruiting their victims.
