NAPTIP gets land, funding for new Niger command
The Governor of Niger State, Mohammed Bago, on Tuesday, announced support for the kickoff of the Niger State Command of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons.
He also called on state governors to support NAPTIP’s drive to tackle human trafficking and violence against persons.
The governor stated this at the Niger State Liaison Office, Abuja, when he received the Management of NAPTIP led by the Director General, Binta Bello.
NAPTIP’s Chief Press Officer, Vincent Adekoye, revealed this in a statement he signed Tuesday titled ‘Niger State Governor tasks governments at sub-national levels to support NAPTIP to tackle human trafficking and violence against persons.’
Bello visited Bago as part of her strategic engagement with critical stakeholders in the fight against human trafficking.
The governor announced his support including land for the immediate take-off of the Niger State Command of NAPTIP.
He said, “We shall give you a land with Certificate of Occupancy for the establishment of the Niger State Command and we want this project to start immediately.
“If you have the personnel ready, we can also get you temporary accommodation so that you can open the Command in February.”
“We are also ready to accommodate and provide support for you to establish NAPTIP Regional Command Office in Niger State.
“We are very ambitious to have the Northern Command of this very important Agency,” the governor added.
He said fighting violence against persons and trafficking in persons is crucial for Northern Nigeria.
Bago also argued that stemming human trafficking and violence against persons requires the collaboration of all state and non-state actors in states.
“We have a lot of out-of-school children especially girls and also a lot of domestic violence issues arising from that.
“We also have issues of violence against women as a fallout of the insecurity in the region.
“There is the need for the government at the sub-national especially the northern Nigeria, to collaborate with NAPTIP to effectively address these issues,” said the Governor.
He lauded the achievements of the new NAPTIP Chief since her appointment last August.
Earlier, NAPTIP’s chief, Bello, briefed the governor on the establishment and mandates of the Agency.
She stated, ”Our presence in Niger State is paramount to executing our mandates effectively. It is to enable us to work closely with the state authorities, local communities, and other stakeholders to prevent trafficking, protect victims, and prosecute offenders.
“Also, our desire to have a presence in your State is due to several cases of child trafficking, child labour, and domestic servitude that we received across sub-national levels which include Niger State”.
She thanked the governor for his immediate promise of support for the establishment of the Niger State Command and urged other state governments to emulate the gesture.
Present at the meeting were members of the Niger State Executive Council and Director of NAPTIP.
