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Nigeria: First Lady Pledges to Curb Human Trafficking
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Leadership (Abuja)
27 March 2008
Posted to the web 27 March 2008
Sherifat Giwa
Abuja
First Lady, Hajiya Turai Yar'Adua, has promised to partner with relevant agencies to curb human trafficking in the country.
Receiving a delegation from the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons (NAPTIP) in Abuja, Yar'Adua said she would also involve governors' wives in the campaign.
She said the campaign against trafficking should be taken more seriously to reach people in rural areas who were the main victims of the act.
The first lady also said efforts should be made to involve religious and traditional institutions in the campaign, while primary and secondary schools should be targeted with messages.
She called for stricter legislation to punish traffickers as deterrent to others in the crime.
Yar'Adua also suggested that travel agents who take Nigerians out for pilgrimage should sign undertaking, to ensure their return to the country after their religious obligations, or face sanctions.
The executive secretary of NAPTIP, Mrs Carol Ndaguba, painted a gruesome picture of the human traffic situation in the country.
Ndaguba said 80 per cent of prostitutes in Italy were Nigerians.
She said the estimate had over the years increased, as some of them had found their ways to France, Ireland, Spain, Austria, Netherlands and other parts of Europe.
"Trafficking in persons is there, a clear and present danger facing our dear country today and if all hands are not put on deck, our future human capital which our children represent may be destroyed at their prime", she added.
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The executive secretary said NAPTIP planned a massive national enlightenment campaign against the menace and asked her to join in the campaign.
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