31st July, 2024
By Jethro Ibileke
To commemorate the 2024 World Day Against Human Trafficking in Edo, the Benin Zonal Command of National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), on Tuesday staged a road walk to call for an end to child trafficking in the state.
The road walk was organized by NAPTIP in conjunction with relevant stakeholders.
The World Day Against Human Trafficking is marked every July 30.
The Coordinator of Benin Zonal Command of NAPTIP, Mr Ganiu Aganran, noted that the theme of the 2024 World Day Against Human Trafficking, “Leave No Child Behind in the Fight Against Human Trafficking,” calls for more collaborative support.
Aganran who was epresented by the Head of the Legal and Prosecution Unit of NAPTIP in, Benin, Mrs Victoria Oburoh, said: “This year’s global campaign focuses on the vulnerability of children and urges accelerated action to end child trafficking.
“Children are subjected to various forms of trafficking, including exploitation. Exploitation in forms of forced labour, criminality, or begging, trafficked for illegal adoption, and online and sexual abuse.
“According to the UNODC Global Report on Trafficking in Persons, one in three victims of human trafficking is a child.”
Also speaking, the Senior Project Assistant at the International Organisation for Migration, Aigbeze Uhimwen, described the theme of the 2024 World Day Against Human Trafficking, as very apt.
“We are committed to the fight against human trafficking, especially when it involves children.
“Sometimes, the voices of children are not heard. Hence, all hands must be on deck to tackle this scourge.
“It is all of government and society. It is a holistic approach that can reduce the tides of human trafficking,” Uhimwen said.
He, therefore, urged all stakeholders to take the anti-human trafficking messages to the grassroots, with emphasis on the ills of child trafficking.
In his remarks, the Edo State Coordinator of the Network Against Child Trafficking, Abuse, and Labour, Mr. Evans Ehiremen, commended all stakeholders for their efforts in tackling human trafficking.
He called for stronger collaboration in the fight against human trafficking, noting that more people were now becoming susceptible to trafficking.
“Due to the economic challenges, people are now becoming victims of trafficking, so we need to do more to stop this trend.
“Let’s pay more attention to our children. They are our future and need our protection from harm,” he said.
