No fewer than 45 personnel drawn from the Nigeria Police Force, Nigeria Immigration Service, and National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) have been trained in Calabar, Cross River State capital, on how to stem the rising tide of human trafficking and migrant smuggling in Nigeria.
Participants were selected from the southeast, south-south and southwest offices of the three law enforcement agencies.
The team leader of Action Against Trafficking in Person and Smuggling of Migrants (A-TIPSON), Rafael Molina spoke at the two-day training workshop on the investigation of trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants.
Molina said the training is meant to strengthen the capabilities of the personnel in investigating migrant smuggling and human trafficking for the successful prosecution of perpetrators.
He disclosed that “the training is part of the 11th European Development Fund signed between the European Union and the Federal Government.
“The overall objective of this training is to contribute to the initiatives of Nigeria’s government towards decreasing the ratio of trafficking in persons at the national and regional level, and between Nigeria and the European Union, with specific emphasis on women and children.”
A speaker at the training Aondoaver Kuttuh who spoke on Trafficking In Persons Identification and Key Indicators and Financial Investigation mentioned that human trafficking is not limited to stealing human beings but includes failure to document victims and or aiding children recruited as child soldiers, child bandits.
“There are thousands of perpetrators who are not identified or arrested. Participants should increase the tempo of their investigations. Numberless trafficking cases are ongoing in Nigeria without notice.
“In fact, internal trafficking is bigger than external and is estimated at 58%. Children such as house help, street beggars and unprotected kids, are frequently the major targets of perpetrators,” he said.
He disclosed that in 2019, the number of victims rescues was 1152
