By Salim Yunusa
The National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Benin Zonal Command, said it has rescued about 96 victims of human trafficking in the zone.
The commander of the zone, Chidiebere Oruruo-Ifudu, which comprises Edo and Delta states, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Benin, on Friday.
Mrs Oruruo-Ifudu said the victims were rescued between January and October.
She said the zone arrested 79 suspected human traffickers and secured four convictions within the period.
Sixty-three of the rescued victims have been reunited with their families, while the agency empowered 15 victims and reintegrated them into the society, she said.
She said the agency has several pending court cases, and that the zone treated not less than 117 cases.
The commander, while reviewing the agency’s activities in the zone within the period under review, said there was a renewed zeal to tackle human trafficking in the zone as the year gradually winds up.
“This is because the ills of human trafficking cannot be over-emphasised as many innocent Nigerian youth have been lured away by human traffickers under the guise of helping them get abroad.
“The victims either die before they get to their desired destination, or become victims of organ harvesting.”
The agency, she said, had intensified its operations, especially vigilance in the zone, because many innocent youth are usually gullible and susceptible to the antics of human traffickers, who would come into the states during the yuletide and lure them with promises of greener and better life abroad.
She disclosed that in view of this, measures have been put in place in the zone for rigorous and effective awareness creation in primary, secondary schools, and tertiary institutions.
(NAN)
