Hope Health Organization , and the International Centre for Migration Policy Development have called for stronger community vigilance and prompt reporting of suspected human trafficking cases as they mobilise traditional and religious leaders in Ibusa, Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta State, against the menace.
Project Coordinator of Hope Health Organization, Ozoro, and STEAP Project Coordinator in Delta State, Oluwakemi Omotoso, made the call during a sensitisation and community action planning session organised by the organisation and the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), in collaboration with the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) and the Delta State Taskforce Against Human Trafficking and Irregular Migration.
The engagement, held as part of the implementation of the Schools Anti-Trafficking Education and Advocacy Project (STEAP), funded by the Government of the Netherlands, brought together 50 participants from traditional, Christian and Islamic institutions.
Omotoso said the four-year STEAP intervention was designed to support the Nigerian Government in preventing and combating human trafficking, particularly in Delta, Edo, Ogun, Enugu and Benue States.
She said the project was strengthening public awareness and community participation, stressing that community and religious leaders had a critical role to play in identifying trafficking warning signs, exposing recruitment tactics and ensuring that suspected cases were promptly reported.
According to her, the project is being implemented in 50 selected schools in each of the five participating states, where teachers in primary and secondary schools, as well as colleges of education, are trained to integrate anti-trafficking education into the school curriculum.
She hinted that Vanguard Clubs had been established in several participating schools to mobilise students against trafficking, while Parents-Teachers Associations were also being engaged in the campaign.
Omotoso disclosed that ICMPD had supported school improvement projects, including the provision of solar power and boreholes, as part of efforts to strengthen the broader community-based response to human trafficking.
She urged traditional and religious leaders in Ibusa to work closely with ICMPD and NAPTIP, noting that prevention remained critical to curbing trafficking.
Omotoso commended Ijeoma David-Ukoko, ICMPD Project Officer for STEAP in Delta State, for her technical support in the implementation of ICMPD STEAP Projects in the state.
The organiser said the engagement was also aimed at establishing a functional community-based reporting system, with designated focal persons and clearly documented referral pathways for suspected cases.
The session culminated in the nomination of three community focal persons to coordinate anti-trafficking activities and facilitate reporting.
They are Onowu Okolie Martin for the traditional institution, Bishop Michael Nwokobia for the Christian community and Alhaji Surajo Dauladi for the Islamic community.
In a presentation titled “Understanding Trafficking in Human Beings,” the Monitoring and Evaluation Officer on STEAP Project, working with Hope Health Organization, Stanley Osiaje, identified sex trafficking, forced labour, recruitment of child soldiers, organ harvesting, domestic servitude and trafficking for rituals as major forms of human trafficking.
Osiaje warned that traffickers were increasingly exploiting digital platforms and deceptive schemes, including fake job offers, phishing, web hunting, extortion, sextortion and baby factories, to lure unsuspecting victims.
He urged parents, teachers, religious leaders and other community stakeholders to remain vigilant and report suspicious activities to the appropriate authorities.
Also speaking, the Secretary of the Delta State Taskforce Against Human Trafficking and Irregular Migration, Mrs Ijeoma Nwanze, called for stronger collaboration among government agencies, traditional institutions, religious bodies and other stakeholders to tackle human trafficking.
Nwanze said the Delta State Government was taking concrete steps to reduce trafficking through the taskforce, including enforcement of relevant laws and prosecution of offenders.
She said the state’s response went beyond identifying trafficking cases to rescuing victims, prosecuting perpetrators and providing assistance to victims.
The three community focal persons pledged to work with relevant agencies and stakeholders to prevent human trafficking and facilitate the prompt reporting of suspected cases.
The engagement ended with the distribution of anti-trafficking flyers and other information materials to participants.
