The National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) on Tuesday said it had secured 25 convictions of human traffickers in 2018.
Arinze Orakwue, the agency’s Director of Public Enlightenment, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Awka that 1,922 human trafficking cases were reported to the agency last year while 192 of them were fully investigated.
The director said the agency had redoubled its efforts to drastically reduce the rate of trafficking in persons across the country in 2019.
Mr Orakwue said part of NAPTIP’s efforts to curtail the act was its plan to canvass for the inclusion of human trafficking-related issues in the nation’s school curriculum.
He said if the plan worked, it would help in no small measure in checking the act of human trafficking in the country.
The director said such a subject would also appeal to the conscience of the youths not to avail themselves to human trafficking and inculcate the zeal to live right in their minds.
Mr Orakwue urged religious leaders to also preach about the inherent dangers of trafficking in persons as a way of curbing the act.
He noted that the agency has nine offices across the country located in Enugu, Lagos, Kano, Benin, Sokoto, Maiduguri, Uyo, Osogbo, and Abuja.
The director advised parents to always know the full identity of the person(s) they gave out their children to as well as who they moved around with.