PRESS RELEASE
104 NIGERIAN SEXUAL SLAVES EVACUATED FROM MALI.
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in persons and other related matters [NAPTIP] has rescued and evacuated 104 victims of human trafficking from Mali.
Briefing newsmen yesterday in Abuja, The Executive Secretary of the agency, Mrs. Beatrice Jedy-Agba said nine suspected traffickers were also repatriated from Mali with the support of the Malian authorities and are currently being interrogated for information relating to crime.
She said the victims are currently being housed at the Agency’s shelter, Daughters of Abraham Foundation, and Women Trafficking and Child Labour Eradication Foundation [WOTCLEF] before handover to their respective states of origin adding that a rehabilitation process has also been put in pace to cater for victims who do not wish to return to their states of origin.
The NAPTIP boss said the Agency will be working with partners to ensure the empowerment of all the girls after undergoing a requisite skill acquisition programme in any area of their choice.
An analysis of the evacuated victims showed that the victims hailed from 17 different states of the country, with Edo states topping the list with 49 victims, Delta has 27, Imo has five, Akwa-Ibom has four, Anambra has three victims and the rest states have between two and one victim each.Mrs. Jedy-Agba said NAPTIP has taken a special note of the spread of scourge going by the statistics of the girls. According to her “a careful diagnostics has shown a perceivable growth of the incidence in states originally not mentioned. The agency will work on this in conjunction with the state government who must be encouraged to quickly make education completely free and accessibly in their states for the benefit of the ignorant youths”.
The Agency had conducted a fact-finding mission to Mali in September last year following disturbing reports from a variety of sources including the Nigerian mission in Mali which led to the discovery that thousands of Nigerian victims have been deceived and transported to Mali among others.
According to the NAPTIP boss several thousands of Nigerians are still stranded in Mali as well as other Africans Countries including Burkina Faso, Niger, Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire
She said dealing with the problem of cross border trafficking would require a heightened level of commitment and cooperation on the part of all Nigerians and our development partners. 17 Nov. 2011
