CLEEN Foundation, a non-governmental organisation and the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) have tasked security agencies on synergy to tackle the menace of human trafficking.
Dr Benson Olugbuo, Executive Director of CLEEN Foundation, said this yesterday at a two-day capacity building workshop for law enforcement agencies in Lagos State.
Olugbuo said there was a need for collaboration of security agents to tackle human trafficking in the country.
He said the workshop was borne out of the need for inter-agency collaboration in fighting the menace of trafficking and forced migration and providing assistance to victims of trafficking.
Olugbuo who acknowledged the Federal Government’s contributions in tackling the menace through laws said that the laws were seen to be devoid of gender sensitivity.
“CLEEN Foundation in collaboration with NAPTIP and support from the UN Women, launched a project to bring critical actors together to effectively design a pathway to solving this problem.
“These critical actors are law enforcement agencies who should not be left out but encouraged to work together in fighting the scourge of human trafficking.
“Law enforcement agencies are responsible for the prevention of trafficking and forced migration through intelligence gathering and prosecution of traffickers within the ambits of the law.
“We are convinced based on experience and technical expertise of our facilitators that the objective of this workshop will be achieved and participants will implement the lessons from the workshop,” he said.
The Commander, NAPTIP, Lagos Zone, Mr Aganran Alao, said the only way to effectively tackle human trafficking due to its multifaceted nature was through strong coordinated partnership.
Aganran said the need for the training could not be over emphasised as it helped to refresh and address knowledge gaps on the concept of trafficking in persons, irregular migration and related issues.
“This is not going to be a talk shop but an opportunity for us to consider some challenges in execution of our duties and provisions of necessary services to victims of human trafficking,” he said.
“This is to proffer SMART solutions which will facilitate achievements of our mandates as individual law enforcement operatives, organisations and as a collective.
“The security circle should never be seen as a competitive arena but for complimentary one.
“Human trafficking represents a clear and present danger to human and national security and must be addressed boldly and frontally.
“The goal here is to build a coordinated system that will help us record even more success stories as we strive to give victims of trafficking another chance to live,” he said.