NAN-H-2
Trafficking
By Azubuike Okeh
Port Harcourt, Oct. 14, 2016 (NAN) The Deputy Governor of Rivers, Dr Ipalibo Banigo, has urged the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) to be more proactive in tackling menace of human trafficking.
Banigo made the call on Friday while receiving the NAPTIP officials from Uyo Zonal Headquarters in Port Harcourt.
The deputy governor urged NAPTIP to undertake diligent prosecution of the culprits no matter their status to tackle the menace of trafficking in persons.
“People, especially the under-aged girls, are being taking across the borders daily for reasons that are not good for the image of this country.
“Apart from the international disposition on issue that goes with human trafficking, the jeopardy that such act puts on the lives of victims is worrisome,” she said.
Banigo said that NAPTIP would do the nation a good service, if those arrested for human trafficking were made to face the full weight of the law.
According to her, such step will serve as deterrent to others who see the illegal act as means of earning a living.
Banigo decried the prevalence of “baby factories’’, urging NAPTIP and other relevant agencies to work in synergy to clampdown on the perpetrators.
“It is important for us as people to speak out against the societal ills and act in the place of the vulnerable in the society,” she said.
Earlier, Mr Nwachukwu Innocent, the NAPTIP Commander in Uyo Zone, said that the agency has the mandate of tackling the issues of human trafficking.
Innocent said that the agency has the powers to arrest, investigate and prosecute anybody found culpable of trafficking offences, no matter their status. (NAN)
AZU/KOLE/GOK
(Edited by Remi Koleoso/Olagoke Olatoye)
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