A Non Governmental Organization, Integrated Anti-human Trafficking and Community Development Initiative, INTACOM, Africa, in partnership with the Nigerian Girl Guides Association, has embarked on a road show to sensitize the people on the dangers of trafficking in persons.
The road show, which was carried out around major areas in Awka, Anambra State Capital, according to the group, was also to commemorate this year’s July 30th World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, mapped out by the United Nations General Assembly in 2013.
Correspondent, Daniel Ezeigwe reports that based on the Global Report on Trafficking in Persons launched by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), worldwide, almost twenty percent of all trafficking victims are children.
However, in some parts of Africa and the Mekong region, children are the majority, rising up to one hundred percent in parts of West Africa, with Nigeria among the countries taking an indicting second tier in the new global report.
It is based on these statistics that the two groups conceived the awareness march began from Arroma Junction, through Okpuno, and ended at UNIZIK Temporary Site, with placards and flyers bearing the inscriptive notes against human trafficking and abuse.
Mrs. Nkiruka Okoye, the Founder and Executive Director of INTACOM Africa, said it was important to let the people know the dangers of human trafficking, with Nigeria badly affected by the menace.
She urged the public to always question people who come with promises of better life elsewhere, especially abroad, as most of those purported journeys often end up being avenues for human trafficking.
On her part, the Anambra State Commissioner, Nigerian Girl Guides Association, Mrs. Helen Obi, blamed human trafficking on greed and get-rich-quick mentality, and said the Association found it worthwhile to join up in the road show in reaffirmation of its responsibility to the girl child, and all humans.
