By Mustapha Sumaila
Abuja – The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking In Persons (NAPTIP) has called for the inclusion of human trafficking in the curricula for Basic and Senior Secondary Schools in Nigeria.
The Director-General of the agency, Ms Julie Okah-Donli, made the appeal during a strategic meeting with the management of the Nigeria Educational Research Development Council (NERDC) in Abuja on Thursday.
She said that a speedy approval of subjects on trafficking in persons by the National Council on Education (NCE) would go a long way to prevent crime from an early age.
The NAPTIP boss expressed her deep appreciation to the council for their collaborative efforts with her agency towards mainstreaming human trafficking issues into the school curricula.
According to her, any delay in the approval of the new infused curricula may become a clog in the wheel of her plan to tackle human trafficking from the root.
She, however, said that all necessary steps would be put in place for a proper implementation of the new curricula.
Okah-Donli informed the NERDC team of the ugly trend of human trafficking for the purpose of organ harvesting.
She revealed that some of the cases alleged to be ritual killings were murder for the purpose of organ harvesting.
She urged the council to join hands with NAPTIP to create further awareness on the scourge of human trafficking in the country.
She said that the meeting was also part of her advocacy visit to the agency.
Responding, the Executive Secretary of NERDC, Prof. Ismail Junaidu, reiterated his council’s commitment in ensuring the implementation of the project.
Junaidu expressed optimism that the infused curricula would be approved soon and circulated to the schools for onward implementation.
The NERDC scribe said that lack of funding had hindered the speedy conclusion of the project.
He decried the ugly trends in human trafficking for sexual and labour exploitation, and called on the Federal Government to empower and support institutions like NAPTIP to carry out their duties effectively.
According to him, prevention remains key to the fight against human trafficking in Nigeria and the “catch them young’’ principle of the agency is worth supporting by public spirited individuals and corporate bodies. (NAN)
