The Delta government, in collaboration with the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and a socio-cultural organisation, `Onu-Ika Nigeria’, have intensified their efforts in the fight against human trafficking in the state.

The sensitisation campaign in Asaba on Friday was aimed at reducing the scourge of human trafficking which had become a menace in the society.

Speaking on the danger of human trafficking to economic development, the Zonal Commander, National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons (NAPTIP), Edo/Delta, Mr Nduka Nwanweme, said that the scourge has claimed the lives of thousands of young females, especially in Edo and Delta States.

He, therefore, advised parents, as well as traditional and religious institutions to rise up to the challenge by discouraging their children, wards, followers and subjects from the risk of losing their lives in the dreaded Mediterranean Sea under the guise of seeking greener pastures abroad.

Nwanmeme lamented the increasing rate of human trafficking and its twin scourge of human organ harvesting.

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The NAPTIP boss said that the law against human trafficking states that “it is a crime to organise foreign travels which promote prostitution of any person, or to deal with any person as a slave.

“It is crime to employ a child under 18 years to do any work that is exploitative, injurious, or hazardous to the development of that child.

“It is a crime to employ a child under 12 years as a domestic worker. It is also a crime to buy or sell human organs’’.

Nwanweme also said that any of the above crimes attracts between six and seven years of imprisonment.

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Also speaking at the campaign, Amb. Ifeoma Chinwuba, described human trafficking as one of the greatest threats to human existence and attributed greed as the major cause of the scourge.

Chinwuba advised parents to always monitor the movements of their children and wards and stressed the need for parents to take their education seriously, rather than encouraging them to seek greener pastures abroad.

In his remarks, the Chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Oshimili South Chapter, Pastor Anene Okafor, reaffirmed CAN’s commitment to strengthening the fight and campaigns against the scourge.

Okafor advised parents to desist from luring their children to embark on the deadly adventure of travelling abroad through the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea.

The sensitisation train which took off from the Oshimili South Arcade on Nnebisi road, through the Interbau Junction axis and Summit road, berthed at Hotel Benizia, where hundreds of participants were exposed to the dangers inherent in the illicit activities.

NAN