It was an impactful and engaging dialogue as the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), held a Town Hall Dialogue with a Community of Stakeholders across the 36 States of Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory.

The Dialogue held at the Ladi Kwali Hall of the Abuja Continental Hotel was attended by members of the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), Religious Leaders, Community Leaders, members of the Diplomatic Community, Representatives of the Sister Law Enforcement Agencies, Members of the State Task Forces powered by the Agency, Representatives of the disability community and media partners.

It was organized by NAPTIP in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime(UNODC) International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the United Nations Human Rights with funding from the European Union and the Kingdom of the Netherlands, as part of the activities lined up for the 2024 World Day Against Trafficking in Persons.

The event featured real town hall interaction as participants freely asked questions, sought clarifications, made suggestions, and clarified grey areas of the activities of the Agency thereby enhancing their understanding of issues of human trafficking in the Country.

In her response to the volleys of questions, the Director General, Prof. Fatima Waziri–Azi, PhD, shed light on the prevalence of human trafficking, the implementation of the various counter-trafficking policies and programme,  the scope of the engagement of the Agency with stakeholders, the mileage and the impact of the various enlightenment activities of the Agency including the setting up of 118 Anti Trafficking and Violence Against Persons Vanguard in schools across the Country including disability schools in Kuje and Abuja.  

She disclosed that the Agency secured a total of 677 convictions since its inception, currently sponsoring a total of 38 survivors of human trafficking in Higher institutions of Learning across the county while 6 other survivors who had completed their education are now employed by the Agency.

While alerting members of the public on the increased cases of sextortion which is another form of trafficking, the Director General charged stakeholders to devise ways of giving out the right information to counter the prevailing wrong narratives in the space.

Highpoint of the dialogue was the cultural display by members of the State Task Forces across the country.

Meanwhile, It was indeed a display of agility and physical preparedness to kick out human traffickers from Nigeria as the Director General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Prof Fatima Waziri–Azi, PhD, on Tuesday 30th July 2024, led Officers of the Agency, Representatives of Development, Members of the Civil Society Organization (CSOs), Chairmen and Member of the State Task Forces from the 34 States of the Federal and media partners, on an awareness walk to end human trafficking.

The 4.3-kilometer distance which kicked off from the Old Parade Ground, Area 10, Garki, Abuja, and terminated at the United Fountain, was one of the activities scheduled for the 2024 World Day Against Trafficking in Persons.



Speaking at the end of the exciting walk, Prof Fatima Waziri–Azi, who was visibly delighted with the large turnout of participants said the awareness walk was deliberately organized to draw the attention of Nigerians to issues of human trafficking and the need to show love, empathy and carry them along in all relevant activities and plans. 

The Director General reiterated the need to ensure good content of anti-human trafficking messages to dispel any misinformation that traffickers and their criminal gangs are peddling around to deceive the victims.

The Team Lead of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Abimbola Adewumi who spoke on behalf of the Development Partners assured of the sustained support of partners to the Federal Government of Nigeria in the fight against human trafficking.

There was also a goodwill message from the National President of the Network Against Trafficking, Abuse and Labour (NACTAL), Mr. Abdulganiyu Abubakar

The high point of the event was a match passed by State Task Forces on Human Trafficking from the 34 States of the Country as well as a delegation from the Gambia National Agency Against Trafficking in Persons (NAATIP)