Delta Uncovers Trafficking Networks, Pr0secutes 15 Cases
Delta Uncovers Trafficking Networks, Prosecutes 15 Cases
The Delta State Government says it is prosecuting more than 15 human trafficking cases before the state High Court, as it intensifies efforts to tackle trafficking networks exploiting Nigerians through deceptive overseas employment offers and irregular migration schemes.Buy Maps
The state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Ekemejero Ohwovoriole, disclosed this during a sensitisation programme on human trafficking, human smuggling and irregular migration in Agbor, Ika South Local Government Area.
Ohwovoriole, who chairs the Delta State Task Force Against Human Trafficking and Irregular Migration, said the Department of Public Prosecutions was handling the cases under the Delta State Human Trafficking (Prohibition) Law, 2024.
He said the law, signed by Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, was introduced to strengthen the state’s legal framework for combating human trafficking and ensuring that offenders face prosecution.
The Attorney-General added that the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons was also pursuing trafficking-related cases before the Federal High Courts in the state.
He warned that traffickers were increasingly exploiting social media platforms, fake job advertisements and promises of lucrative employment abroad to deceive unsuspecting Nigerians, particularly young people desperate for better economic opportunities.Buy Maps
“The state government remains committed to ensuring that anyone involved in human trafficking and related offences faces the full weight of the law,” he said.
Ohwovoriole stressed that government interventions alone would not eliminate the crime without the cooperation of residents, community leaders and other stakeholders.
He urged Nigerians to thoroughly verify overseas employment opportunities and report suspicious recruitment activities to the appropriate authorities.
Speaking through the Zonal Commander of NAPTIP, Stephen Selowo, the agency’s representative, Sam Offiah, warned that educated young Nigerians seeking opportunities abroad were increasingly becoming targets of trafficking syndicates operating under the guise of legitimate recruitment agencies.Buy Maps
Offiah described human trafficking as an expanding global criminal enterprise that thrives on desperation and the desire for a better life.
“Human trafficking is not only a moral crime but a growing global business that feeds on desperation.
“The slang ‘Japa’ may sound harmless, but when aspiration turns into desperation, people become vulnerable, and that vulnerability is what traffickers exploit,” he said.
He commended the Delta State Government for organising the awareness programme and called on other state governments to introduce similar initiatives to discourage human trafficking and unsafe migration.
In a lecture, the Secretary of the state task force, Ijeoma Nwanze, described human trafficking as modern-day slavery and urged communities to work collectively to expose and dismantle trafficking networks.
Nwanze explained that trafficking could be established through evidence of movement, exploitation, deception, coercion and the exchange of payments or benefits to gain control over victims.
She warned that the increasing desperation among Nigerians to relocate abroad had created opportunities for fraudulent migration agents and organised trafficking syndicates to exploit vulnerable individuals.
She urged participants to take the awareness campaign to their respective communities and educate residents about the dangers of irregular migration and deceptive overseas employment offers.
“Together, we can build a Delta where no dream is trafficked, and no ambition is enslaved,” she said.
Delta State inaugurated its Task Force Against Human Trafficking and Irregular Migration in March 2019, while its Ministry of Justice established an Anti-Human Trafficking Unit in October 2021 to coordinate investigations, prosecutions, public awareness campaigns and victim support.
The state government said the 2024 anti-trafficking law further strengthened its efforts to prevent trafficking, protect victims and prosecute perpetrators.
