By Victoria Onyisi
The Federal Government has expressed it determination to henceforth prosecute not only facilitators or middle men involved in child trafficking, but parents as well as transporters of victims to serve as a deterrent to would-be perpetrators
The Minister of Women Affairs, Barrister (Mrs.) Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye made the disclosure today when she paid a courtesy visit to the Director-General, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) of Nigeria, Fatima Waziri-Azi in her office in Abuja
She described the increasing rate of parental involvement in trafficking as alarming, noting that if caught, the pepertrators will face the full wrath of the law
Kennedy-Ohanenye explained that before most children are trafficked, negotiations are usually done by parents and the traffickers, after which transport systems are contracted to move them out.
“Henceforth, both the parents, traffickers and the transporter, be it through air, land or sea, will be fished out for the various roles they played.”
Kennedy-Ohanenye, added: “Our children deserve to be loved and cared for, not traded with, the President Bola Tinubu-led Administration is determined to rid our society of such heineous crimes which contravene not only our culture as Africans but the world at large.”
She called on the Agency to partner with the Ministry on adequate information on the return of the Nigerian girls abducted to Ghana for prostitution and other related cases, assuring that the Ministry which is already partnering with the Open University of Nigeria for subsidized tuition fees will not only support their academic pursuits but also onboard them on its platform to enable them benefit from all available grants and privileges that is available through its e-commerce market portal.
Responding, the Director-General, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) of Nigeria, Fatima Waziri-Azi, assured that the girls have been rescued and their abductors arrested, noting that they will soon arrive the country for rehabilitation and integration into the society.
She stated that a more systematic approach will be deployed by the Agency in collaboration with the Ministry to forestall future occurrences.
Waziri-Azi also called on parents to be discerning and shun any attempt to lure their children into prostitution, adding that there is no free lunch anywhere in the world
The Minister had earlier paid a courtesy visit on the Ghanian High Commission to Nigeria to ascertain an up-to-date information on the whereabouts of the girls shown on the trending viral video with a view to ensuring their safe return back to Nigeria.