The fight against human trafficking and migration, according to vice president Yemi Osinbajo, requires coordinated efforts from all stakeholders.
At the 2022 UN Day Against Human Trafficking's big conclusion on Monday in Abuja, the Vice President made the announcement.
The struggle against human trafficking can only be won by working together, according to Mr. Adélá Ipaye, Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Office of the Vice President.
He claims that the problem of human trafficking is a worldwide one and urges everyone to renew their commitment to fighting the problem.
He asserted that the administration of President Buhari had maintained its political resolve in the battle against human trafficking and that this push would continue.
Osinbajo commended NAPTIP for the advancements it has made in the struggle and thanked other stakeholders for their assistance in helping the organisation accomplish its goals.
According to him, the Federal Government's normal operating process for setting agendas and combating human trafficking would continue to protect Nigeria's safety.
“All organisations offering shelters and homes to trafficked persons must ensure people are not exploited, we will continue to scale our efforts in the areas of protection, prosecution and others.
“We can only win this fight by working together with common vision,” Osinbajo stressed.
Dr. Fatima Waziri-Azi, the director general of NAPTIP, had earlier stated that the organisation had just started a nationwide initiative to develop a vanguard against human trafficking and violence against people in all 110 Federal Government Colleges.
According to her, the vanguard was created to improve students' ability to recognise and report cases of sexual assault and gender-based violence both inside and outside of schools.
The goal, according to her, is to create a generation of young people who are capable of speaking out against these atrocities and promoting safe migration as an alternative to irregular migration.
She asserts that by simply bringing attention to the issue, we may accomplish a great deal in the way of prevention.
The 2022 UN Day Against Human Trafficking's theme, "Use and Abuse of Technology," which featured a debate for and against between Baze University, Abuja, and Veritas University, Abuja, was relevant, according to Waziri-Azi.
She claims that traffickers are abusing technology to further their goals in the trafficking of several young Nigerians and that the narrative needs to be changed.
“Human traffickers now operate online as much as they operate offline. If the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us anything, it is the re-enforcement of the need for digital channel of communication.
“Human traffickers have also caught on to this digital transformation, there is an obvious shift from physical to virtual recruitment as traffickers have kept pace with technology, becoming proficient at using the internet for their trafficking operations.
“The theme: “Use and Abuse of Technology” for the 2022 human trafficking day. This theme focuses on the role of technology as a tool that can enable, as well as impede human trafficking.
“This theme is timely, could not have come at a better time considering the fact that at NAPTIP, we are seeing an increase in fake job advertorials and fake scholarships via social media.
“Traffickers use it to recruit and cat fish unsuspecting victims,” she said.
According to Waziri-Azi, NAPTIP will work in collaboration with the US National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) to improve the tracking down of suspects and the thorough investigation of all instances involving online child abuse, human trafficking, and other crimes.
She claimed that the alliance will aid in the identification of people who use social media sites to transmit pornographic content electronically in order to either blackmail or take advantage of victims.
She claims that the organisation has formed a task force to combat internet crimes and that it is now looking into its first "sextortion" case.