By Mustapha Sumaila
Abuja – The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking In Persons (NAPTIP) says no suspects escaped from its custody as being reported in online media.
Mrs Stella Nezan, Head of Press and Public Relations of NAPTIP, said this in a press statement in Abuja on Thursday.
Nezan explained that the report claiming 19 suspects escaped from the agency’s custody in Abuja was untrue.
“Our attention has been drawn to a false report on Premium Times Nigeria, claiming that 19 suspects escaped from the agency’s custody in Abuja on Tuesday.
“NAPTIP wishes to categorically state that such an incident never happened and this was clearly conveyed to the Premium Times reporter, who had called earlier to verify the information she got.
“Everything in that report is only a figment of the imagination of the writer as the content of the report does not also fall within the procedures of the agency” she said.
According to her, the agency has never, at any time, had such a number of suspects in its custody at a time.
“We always observe the best practices in suspects handling within the ambit of the laws.
“The public is hereby enjoined to disregard such misleading publications, as they are false, and a calculated attempt to bring the agency to disrepute” she added.
The spokesperson said that the agency was, more than ever, strategically poised to fight human trafficking in Nigeria and secure the lives of vulnerable Nigerian citizens.
She, however implored the media to always crosscheck all information that comes from unverified sources before publication to avoid misleading or misinforming the public.
“NAPTIP believes so much in telling the media and the public the truth about its activities and urge the media to trust all information from the agency instead of listening to mere hearsay or gossip and publishing them as genuine reports” she said. (NAN)
