The Federal Government has called on Nigerians to report anyone suspected to be involved in human trafficking in any part of the country.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Affairs, Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, said this on Thursday during her appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
“Traffickers must be prosecuted, must be arrested and they must be known,” she said. “There is a whistle-blower policy by NAPTIP; report traffickers, they are amongst you.”
This comes amid reactions from government and the international community to reports of slave trading in Libya which involves some Africans, including Nigerians.
While President Muhammadu Buhari had promised to bring home those stranded in the North African country, Dabiri-Erewa spoke about the line of action of the Federal Government in ensuring that Nigerians are no longer trapped in foreign lands.
According to her, government was working to ensure more youths were gainfully engaged to avoid dangerous expeditions in search of greener pastures.
She, however, said Nigerians had since been warned against going to Libya because of the security situation in the country.
The presidential aide also asked the citizens to be mindful and not to fall victim of unscrupulous individuals that have turned slavery into their major source of income.
Despite the challenges Nigeria is facing, she urged the citizenry to keep the faith with the Buhari administration and not to embark on perilous journeys.
“Slavery begins here; for every trafficker, you are sold from here. Let’s look at what is going on, you’ll say poverty. Yes, government must do the needful, create an enabling environment, provide jobs and all that but it goes beyond that.
“What do you say of a mother who sells her land and pays off $4,000 for her daughter to go to Europe? We should look at the family value and the systems.
“For every person who goes on that journey, a trafficker is being empowered, a trafficker is getting richer,” she said.
The former member of the House of Representative further decried the rate of human trafficking within and outside the country, saying it had begun to get more attention the drug trafficking.
She said although government would continue to work relentlessly in fighting the scourge, the people also have a role to play by promptly reporting any suspected case to relevant government agencies.
