146 suspects convicted, 90 cases in court - NAPTIP

THE National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic In Persons and Other Related Matters (NAPTIP) has said that about 146 suspects have been convicted and over 90 cases are currently in court.
The Director of Intelligence and International Cooperation, Mr Tsumba Terna, stated this in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital.
According to him, the agency was winning the war gradually, as he advised parents to stop sending their wards into child labour.
He said they were vulnerable to many dangers, while the girls were also exposed to sexual abuse.
He called for better synergy between the agency and the securityagencies in a bid to curb child abuse and human trafficking in thecountry.
Also speaking, Director, Investigation and Monitoring of NAPTIP, Ezekiel Kura, stated that war against child and human trafficking was a collective responsibility of all security agencies.
Kura explained that he and Mr Terna were in the state following the report of the arrest of 268 victims and the human traffickers in Kogi State by the JTF operatives on the Itobe-Ajaokuta-Okene road last Saturday.
He stated that before their arrival in the state, the Kogi State police command was said to have released the victims and the human traffickers without the consent of the agency.
He stated that child labour and human trafficking were big problems which should not be left for the agency alone, adding that it was the responsibility of all the traditional rulers, chiefs, village heads and parents who always volunteered their children for child labour.
The NAPTIP boss said that the agency was established primarily tocurb or possibly eradicate the child labour and human trafficking in the country.