An anti-human trafficking group, the Academy for Prevention of Human Trafficking and other related matters, TAPHOM, in partnership with National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), has disclosed that nearly 701, 032 Nigerians are illegally moved out of the country every year for organ removal, sexual exploitation and forced labour.

At a workshop organised yesterday to train participants on modern anti-trafficking schemes, the academy, through the Executive Director of Devatop Centre for Africa Development, Joseph Osuigwe Chidiebere, said there is much work to be done to combat and prevent human trafficking and gender-based violence, while calling on others to join the fight.

According to Chidiebere, “We can’t close our eyes to it. We can’t keep silent at this evil. We can’t pretend as if it doesn’t exist. We have to take action, and nothing but action.

“There is hardly any family that is not touched by the effects of human trafficking, r*pe or gender-based violence. People might think human trafficking is a thing of the past, but it is happening now,” he said.

He expressed his passion to engage stakeholders in building a world without human trafficking and gender-based violence.

During the graduation of the trainees and inauguration of Day of Advocacy against Human Trafficking, Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, former chairman of National Human Rights Commission advised the participants to start putting things right in Nigeria. He also stated that bad leadership and poverty were among the causes of human trafficking.

The Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase, represented by the commissioner of police, Interpol, Abuja, Mr. Olusola Subair, in his speech, assured the participants that the police will continue to improve its efforts and strategies in the fight against human trafficking.

The United Nations Children Fund, UNICEF, also said that combating human trafficking requires building a protective environment for children to prevent their abuse and exploitation, adding that continuous public education campaigns and rigorous enforcement of the law must be prioritised in order to change the tradition of using children as labourers, particularly domestic girls.

The director of Public Enlightenment of National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, Mr. Arinze Orakwue, charged the trainees to take strategic actions to prevent human trafficking.