Shun greed, Stay With Your Parents – NAPTIP Caution Students, Inaugurate Anti Trafficking Vanguard in Benue School

From Dooshima Terkura Makurdi

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), has urged students and young people to shun the unnecessary desire for exotic lifestyles, advising them to stay with their parents and eat what their parents eat to avoid falling into the trap of traffickers.

The Zonal Commander of NAPTIP, Makurdi Zonal Command, Mrs Gloria Bai, gave the advice on Tuesday at the inauguration of the School Anti-Trafficking Education and Advocacy Project (STEAP) Vanguard at Government Secondary School (GSS), Ikpayongo, in Gwer East Local Government Area (LGA), of Benue State.

The initiative, funded by the kingdom of Netherlands and implemented by NAPTIP in collaboration with the International Center for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) is aimed at creating awareness and driving action to combat human trafficking and violence against persons in schools.

Bai advised students against being lured by promises of good jobs abroad and expensive phones, urging them to face their studies reject poverty as an excuse.

“I understand poverty and I always say that yes, there is poverty. But believe me, some of us grew up in poverty but we did not allow somebody to traffick us. So, if it is poverty, why don’t you stay with your parents so that whatever they eat or drink, you will take it and manage it. But greed is what is pushing our children because every child wants a big phone,” she lamented.

She further highlighted the dangers of human trafficking, revealing to the students that most female victims are forced to sleep with as many as 20 men daily to generate money for their traffickers. “They are made to sleep in horrible places and even boys are raped by homosexuals. It’s a modern day slavery,” she added.

The Zonal Commander emphasized that human trafficking affects everyone; children, parents, and guardians alike as it is a crime that undermines humanity and contributes to the destruction of the nation and its states.

Explaining why Benue State was selected as one of the five beneficiaries of the STEAP initiative, Mrs. Bai disclosed that many girls were being trafficked from Ikpayongo, making GSS Ikpayongo a strategic choice for the project.

She explained further that “For the past four years, Benue has been toping the NAPTIP data on the number of cases and rescued victims of human trafficking. That was one of the reasons why Benue was chosen for this project.”.

She expressed hope that the sensitization would empower the students to become NAPTIP ambassadors, thereby reducing the number of trafficking cases in the area.

She also called on stakeholders to support vulnerable communities, especially those in crisis-prone areas, so that traffickers do not exploit their situation.

While presenting red cards to the 30 members of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Violence Against Persons (A-TIPVAP) Vanguard, led by Anchongo Terver of SS 2A, Mrs Bai charged them to raise awareness, protect the vulnerable, and advocate for a world free of trafficking and violence.

She urged them to actively participate in club activities and uphold values such as respect, dignity, and safety for all.

In addition to the red cards, she presented other items including, jotters, T-shirts, and bags, which the vanguards were encouraged to carry to school daily and use during their club meetings on Fridays.

Earlier, the State Commissioner for Education and Knowledge Management, Dr. Frederick Ikyaan, represented by the STEAP Project Desk Officer from the Ministry, Prince Ageba Aule, stated that the government of the Netherlands, using data provided by NAPTIP, identified Nigeria as a hotspot for trafficking in persons with five states including Benue, Ogun, Enugu, Delta, and Edo being the most affected.

“If you go to Libya, Niger, Cameroon and Dubai, you will see Benue children, both male and female that have been trafficked there,” Aule stated.

He explained that once the sensitization, awareness creation, and orientation on how to report trafficking are completed, the Netherlands government will begin to assist the identified states.

According to him, schools were chosen over churches and markets for the sensitization because they house the highest number of children within the targeted age group.

“Apart from the sensitization, you are also going to benefit from the school improvement program where the school will decide the project which they want the government of Netherlands to assist them. For instance, you could choose a borehole, a perimeter fence, it will be done free of charge and many more will come as the program unveils.”

Speaking, a teacher at GSS Ikpayongo, Mr. Ortamen Nathan Annor, stressed that trafficking in persons does not only involve transporting young people abroad illegally.

He revealed that trafficking activities were happening right within the Ikpayongo community saying “A new night club has been established here in Ikpayongo where even underaged girls are taken for sexual exploitation. Within a short time the club has been opened, the owner has made a whooping sum of N8 million. We are not happy over the development but we are still thinking about what to do. It’s ruining our children especially the female ones,” Annor said.

The District Head of Mbasombo, Chief Pius Kuhe, appealed to NAPTIP to return to Ikpayongo main town for another sensitization session involving other schools, citing the widespread nature of trafficking in the area.

A parent and Treasurer of GSS Ikpayongo, Mr. James Anchõngo, commended NAPTIP for the initiative and appealed for its continuation and extension to Community Secondary School, Ikpayongo, where similar issues were also reported.

Students including Joseph Akombo, Aker Beatrice, Aornen Serumun , Precious Godwin, Titus Ayua, and others actively participated in the session where they defined and explained human trafficking, its causes, and asked insightful questions which were responded to by the Zonal Commander.

In his closing remarks, the Principal of GSS Ikpayongo, Mr. Msughter Kungur, described the initiative as apt and assured NAPTIP that the school would take the message beyond its walls to benefit the larger Ikpayongo community.