The Nigerian states of Kano and Katsina commit to fighting human trafficking

The governors of the Nigerian states of Kano and Katsina, Abdullahi Ganduje and Aminu Bello Masari respectively, have pledged to support the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) in the fight against human trafficking. 

The commitment was signed in two meetings with the general director of NAPTIP, Basheer Muhammed and the staff of this FIIAPP-managed project to combat human trafficking in Nigeria, A-TIPSOM. “Hundreds of people continue to perish on their journey through the Sahara Desert and over the Mediterranean“, said the director of NAPTIP.   

Ganduje stressed that human trafficking is endemic in Kano state due to its status as a business centre. “We welcome the idea of a state task force on human trafficking. We will partner your agency and the task force will receive the desired support ”, assured the governor of Kano.   

For his part, the governor of the state of Katsina, Aminu Bello Masari, stated that serious actions will be taken against human trafficking and other crimes related to the abuse and exploitation of children in the state and said that concerted efforts must be made to ensure adequate protection for Nigerians.   

Rafael Ríos, an officer in the Policía Nacional and leader of the A-TIPSOM team, a project financed by the European Union, affirmed that trafficking in Nigeria has gone clandestine and that is why FIIAPP supports the establishment of state working groups to strengthen the state and non-state multi-sectoral response to combat human trafficking in Nigeria.