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The Edo Zonal Command of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons (NAPTIP) says human trafficking in the state has reduced marginally.
        The Edo Commander of NAPTIP, Mrs Ijeoma Udak, said this on Monday at a human trafficking workshop organised by an NGO, PHEW Foundation, in Warri. Uduak represented by Mr Ogunrinu Muyiwa, said the programme with the theme “Recognise the Sign’’ was organised to educate motorists and passengers on the dangers inherent in human trafficking as well as how to identify culprits. The current percentage of human trafficking as at 2018 in Edo was 60 while in 2017, it was 65 per cent. It is invariably reducing but that does not mean we should fold our hands, we will not rest until it is maximally reduced. The feat should not be attributed to NAPTIP alone, but to our partners such as NGOs,” Uduak said. She said that the zonal agency which covers both Edo and Delta would continue to partner NGOs and intensify awareness campaign on the dangers and consequences of human trafficking. Uduak advised people, particularly the youth, to avoid greediness and be patient and be disciplined. Earlier, the CEO of PHEW Foundation, Mrs Uche Chigbo, said that drivers were also critical stakeholders in the fight against human trafficking. According to her, drivers were the ones that transport the traffickers unknowingly. We are trying to make drivers the advocates of human trafficking. We believe that by our partnership with drivers, we will be able to curb human trafficking to a very large extent. Most of the human trafficking must have been transported through vehicles. The essence of the workshop is to tell them how to identify suspected human traffickers and report same to the NGOs and government for proper actions,” she said. Mr Perkins Awurade who represented Mr Francis Ariyo, Chairman of Effurun Motor Park, commended the NGO for the awareness. We will spread the message to our members so that together we can eradicate the scourge,” he said.