Niger Delta
NAPTIP/ICMPD Renew Campaign Against Human Trafficking In Delta
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) and the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) on Tuesday in Asaba renewed campaign strategy against human trafficking in Delta State.
Hajia Binta Adamu-Bello, Director-General, NAPTIP, formally flagged off a two-day Awareness and Capacity Raising Workshop for School Principals, Vanguard Coordinators and Education Administrators.
According to her, the workshop was to equip participants on the use of the Tools for the implementation of TIPVAP Vanguards Under the School Anti-Trafficking Education and Advocacy Project (STEAP).
The Tide’s source reports that the programme was organised by NAPTIP in collaboration with ICMPD implementing STEAP in Delta State.
The project is being funded by the Government of the Netherlands.
Adamu-Bello, represented by Mr. Josiah Emerole, Director of Intelligence of Research and Programme Development Department, NAPTIP, said the workshop was to raise the participants’ awareness on issues of human trafficking and how to deal with it.
She said the fight against human trafficking should be a collective one and not to be left for government agencies alone.
She said 50 secondary schools have been selected in Delta, and that each school would have NAPTIP Students Vanguards to continue with the sensitisation against human trafficking in the state.
According to her, the workshop would help build the stakeholders’ capacity to coordinate the vanguards in their schools.
The NAPTIP boss further said the target is to catch the children young, to educate and equip them with requisite knowledge to create awareness among the students and their families to enable them identify the red flags of trafficking.
“As principals and Vanguard coordinators, you owe the children responsibility to save them from becoming victims of the traffickers.
“Also, as principals and teachers, what we are doing here toady is also for you, you can be trafficked as a teacher, principal or parent by the traffickers for forced labour, sex or for organ harvesting.
“A few years ago, NAPTIP with ICMPD infused trafficking in persons issues in the curriculum of basic and secondary school education in Nigeria.
“Now to further that, we began to set up clubs in schools called Vanguards in secondary schools and Brigades in Primary schools”, she stated.
She, however, disclosed that the agency has so far rescued and reintegrated into the society about 26,000 victims while 700 persons have been convicted by the agency.
Also, Mrs. Rhoda Johnson, Project Manager, International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD)- STEAP project, said the project’s target was to ensure children are safe and less vulnerable in the society.
She noted that the training was aimed at sustaining awareness, strengthening collaboration and understanding of issues of trafficking and how to report trafficking in persons.
”The STEAP project have other components, but what we are doing now is being implemented by NAPTIP which is to inaugurate vanguards in 50 schools in Delta State and other four states where we are implementing the project.
“The aim of the STEAP project is to strengthen awareness, enhance stakeholders capacity and collaboration with Civil Society Organisations to prevent trafficking among school age children.
”The STEAP project is for four years. We started it in 2024 and it will end in 2027. We are collaborating with government and it is part of the sustainability plan, so that when the project is ended as per funding by the government of the Netherlands, the State Government could carry on.
“We also expect the government to replicate the school vanguards in other schools and communities.
“That is why we are working with NAPTIP which is saddled with the responsibility of inaugurating vanguards and it has been doing well and NAPTIP will do more now with funding”, Johnson said.
In a remark, the State Attorney–General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Ohwovoriole Ekemejero, represented by Mrs. Ijoma Nwanze, Secretary, State Taskforce Against Human Trafficking, lauded NAPTIP and ICMPD for the sustained fight against human trafficking in the state.
Also, the State Commissioner for Secondary Education, Mrs. Rose Ezewu, represented by Mr. Macleans Eze, Desk Officer, State Task Force Against Human Trafficking and Irregular Migrations, said the workshop was apt.
“This workshop represents a crucial step in equipping our school principals, vanguard coordinators and school administrators with the knowledge and tools necessary to protect our children from exploitation and abuse.
In a lecture titled, ”Understanding Human Trafficking”, the Director, Public Enlightenment, NAPTIP, Kehinde Akomolafe, said traffickers deploy deception, isolation, debt bondage, fetish oaths to control their victims.
According to her, the traffickers are members of the family, friends and associate who are driven by inordinate ambition to make money.
The source reports that about a hundred participants have so far been engaged to benefit from the workshop aimed at stemming the tide against human trafficking in Delta State.
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The Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH), Prof. Ikpeme Ikpeme, has said the 850-bed hospital is overstretched, as it currently serves over five million patients.
He disclosed this on Friday during a media tour of the facility to showcase ongoing renovations and facelift in the hospital.
The CMD noted that, aside being the only tertiary healthcare facility servicing the state, UCTH also serviced neighbouring states of Akwa Ibom and Ebonyi.
He said the hospital also received referrals from neighbouring countries, including Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Central African Republic.
According to him, the 850-bed hospital faced persistent space constraints because of increasing patients inflow and expanding healthcare demands.
“This hospital currently operates 62 clinical and non-clinical departments as well as between 30 and 38 wards covering medical, surgical, paediatric, orthopaedic and specialised services.
“Most wards have undergone facelift, remodelling, or complete renovation to improve patient care and working conditions for healthcare professionals”, he said.
He disclosed that the hospital was constructing a new 106-bed emergency medicine facility to address the rising demand for healthcare services.
According to him, the facility will include trauma bays, intensive care units, neonatal wards, and three fully equipped trauma theatres.
Speaking on the remodeled wards, Ikpeme explained that they followed modern nursing principles, allowing one nurse to attend to a maximum of 10 patients.
He said relatives would be restricted to designated waiting areas to reduce interference with medical procedures and improve emergency response efficiency.
The CMD noted that the hospital had strengthened specialist services in orthopaedics, neurosurgery, obstetrics, radiology, and minimally invasive surgery.
“UCTH now performs hip and knee replacements, arthroscopy, sports medicine, and complex brain tumour surgeries.
“Our surgeons also conduct keyhole procedures for appendectomy, hysterectomy and other conditions with faster patient recovery periods,” he said
In power, the CMD said the hospital relied on solar power from a seven-megawatt plant, constructed by the Federal Government at the University of Calabar, as well as public power supply, and generators to sustain its operations.
He appealed to governments, organisations, and philanthropists to support infrastructure expansion, equipment procurement, and specialised healthcare projects.
The CMD said the hospital required additional incubators, ward expansions, and a stand-alone amenity facility for private healthcare services.
He used the opportunity to dismiss allegations of ethnic discrimination, insisting that the hospital does not reject workers or patients based on tribe or origin.
According to him, the institution recently honoured an Igbo pioneer physician by naming a ward after him in recognition of decades of service.
The CMD said the hospital maintained strict disciplinary procedures to address negligence, poor attitude, and unethical conduct among staff.
The Tide’s source reports that some of the units visited include, intensive care unit, Department of Radiology, Urology Clinic, and Opthalmology Clinic.
The Police Command in Akwa Ibom State says it has busted a child trafficking syndicate and arrested three suspects for conspiracy and unlawful sale of a newborn baby in the State.
The State’s Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Timfom John, who disclosed this in a statement in Uyo on Friday, said the three female suspects were arrested on Wednesday at about 1900hrs.
She said a complainant reported that his wife gave birth to a baby boy on May 7 and shockingly, shortly after delivery sold the newborn child to one of the suspects for N145, 000.
“Upon receipt of the report, operatives immediately swung into action, leading to the arrest of the suspects and the successful recovery of the baby boy.
“The suspects reportedly confessed to the crime during interrogation, while investigation has been expanded to identify and apprehend all individuals connected to the trafficking syndicate”, John said.
She said the State’s Commissioner of Police, Baba Azare, reiterated the Command’s commitment to sustaining aggressive intelligence-led policing in the state.
The Akwa-Ibom State Government has launched a statewide crackdown on unregistered scrap dealers and scavengers, shutting down illegal operations and arresting operators accused of violating environmental and public safety regulations.
The enforcement operation, led by the Akwa Ibom State Environmental Protection and Waste Management Agency (AKSEPWMA), followed the implementation of the state’s Waste Metal Scrap Law 2026, officials said.
AKSEPWMA Chairman, Obong Prince Ikim, said the exercise was aimed at regulating the scrap sector, protect the environment, and prevent criminal groups from operating under the guise of waste collection and metal trading.
“If you want to do scrap business, you must register,” Mr. Ikim said during the operation in Uyo, the state capital.
“Many people now hide under scrap trading to perpetrate nefarious activities”, he said.
According to him, dump site operators and scrap dealers who failed to register with the government risked closure and prosecution.
Authorities accused some operators of involvement in vandalism of public infrastructure and indiscriminate waste disposal, adding that investigations had uncovered criminal activities linked to several dump sites across the state.
“Some people vandalise government facilities in the name of scrap business and encourage indiscriminate dumping of refuse,” Mr. Ikim said.
He added that the state government and security agencies would continue efforts to enforce compliance and maintain public order.
“The Commissioner of Police has zero tolerance for criminality, and the Governor wants Akwa Ibom people to sleep with their eyes closed. We will fish out every defaulter”, he said.
Police officials involved in the operation said investigations showed that some criminal suspects used scrap yards and refuse dump sites as cover for illegal activities.
CSP Okwuzulike Vincent of the Itam Police Station said some suspects pretended to be mentally unstable while hiding ammunition and other suspicious items in makeshift shelters around dump locations.
The police officer praised the environmental agency for what he described as proactive efforts to sanitise the sector and pledged continued cooperation between law enforcement and the agency.
Officials said some first-time offenders arrested during the operation were released after profiling and signing undertakings, while repeat offenders would face prosecution.