No fewer than 20,660 persons have been rescued by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffick in Person while 640 persons have been convicted n the last 20 years .
The commander of NAPTIP Benin zonal command, Nduka Nwanwenne disclosed this at a three-day workshop for journalists on the development of standard reporting template for members of the trafficking in Persons Media Corps .
Nwanwenne who spoke on emerging tricks and trends in Human Trafficking : a case study of South South region, said only this year, 40 persons have been convicted .
While breaking it down, he said “as at May 2023, 604 persons have been convicted, 9,102 suspected traffickers have been arrested, 20,660 victims rescued and 11,291 cases have been reported.”
The Benin zonal commander said, South South is endemic for human trafficking, saying that, last year alone, 80 persons were convicted .
Meanwhile, NAPTIP has raised the alarm that many Nigerian returnees have lost their organs after being sedated before they were brought back to Nigeria.
The Director, Intelligence Training and Manpower Development of NAPTIP, Arinze Orakue disclosed this during the workshop .
Orakue said that the situation was uncovered after checking the health status of some Nigerian returnees upon their arrival in the Nigeria.
He said the screening revealed that some of them had lost their vital organs before they returned to the country .
According to them, further findings showed that the criminals had laced the food and drinks of the survivors before they harvest their organs, unknown to them.
He said “majority of the victims are irregular migrants and displaced Persons. As a result, they are subjected to any kind of ill- treatment by the criminals who then exploit them.
“We got to know about the incident when they are brought back home by the International Organisation for Migration.
“Immediately they are brought back home, through their medical screening, we got to know what happened to the returnees. Many of them were surprised to find incision on them and discovered that their organs had been harvested by the criminals.
“The criminals are not only harvesting kidneys, they also take bile, pancreas among others. Those who returned safely should thank God. But in this part of the world, we are quick to classify these people as ritual killers who cut off breast of young girls, but,it is a serious business in countries like Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, India and presently in South Africa where organs business are thriving.”
An internation body, International Ibero- America Foundation for Administration and Public Policies, otherwise known as FIIAPP, said it has a good working relationship with NAPTIP
The team lead of FIIAPP, Federico Milan who spoke to Journalists at the sideline of the work said the struggle against human trafficking and other vices in Nigeria is a collective work with NAPTIP .
He said “In the past, we have three units fighting against trafficking in Persons in spain, especially those coming from Nigeria and other nationality, our national police are doing well to reduce the numbers of traffickers coming in without proper documentation.
“Now we have one unit of Police in Spain dedicated to the fight against trafficking, the police have been productive to reduce the numbers of traffickers who are coming from North African Countries using Spain as transit.”
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