RSG Inaugurates Task Force Against Human Trafficking

The Rivers State Government has inaugurated the State Task Force on the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons.
Speaking during the inauguration of the task force at the Government House in Port Harcourt, last Monday, the state Chief Executive, Chief Nyesom Wike, said his administration was committed to eradicating human trafficking in the state.
“We have to stop these traffickers, we ought to be able to give justice to those who deserve it, and justice must be prompt and even seem to be done across board, and whatever it takes to ensure that there is a prompt prosecution, my government is committed to it. We are also committed to the successful rehabilitation of victims. That is why we are creating a safe home for victims”, Wike stressed.
The governor, who spoke through his Deputy, Dr. Ipalibo Harry Banigo, urged members of the task force to interrogate issues around human trafficking, stressing that it was important for the people to share information and extend partnership in such a way that effective information gathering can be achieved.
He said that to attain the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), one of the issues to tackle was the eradication of violence against women and girls, describing trafficking of women and girls as disastrous.
The governor commended the Director General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Dame Julie Okah-Donli, for her concerted efforts and the zest she has put in to eliminate human trafficking and human degradation in the country.
“I believe a lot of people did not realise how serious the problem of human trafficking was until you came on board. You can see that everybody is rising up to this horrible crime in the society, this modern day slavery. It is so pathetic that the numbers you have read out, it is really awful; and we know that having a state task force will help in the sense that it would have inter-sectorial collaboration”, the governor emphasisied.
In her remarks, the Director–General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, Dame Julie- Okah-Donli, said the problem of human trafficking and irregular migration has become a great national concern because of the large number of Nigerians trapped in sexual and labour exploitation in various African and European countries.