NAPTIP Calls for Unified Action to Counter Evolving Human Trafficking Networks

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has urged stronger national and international collaboration to combat increasingly complex human trafficking syndicates. At a press conference in Abuja on Thursday, Director General Binta Bello said the 2025 World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, themed “Human Trafficking is Organised Crime: End the Exploitation,” highlights the scale and sophistication of global trafficking rings exploiting legal loopholes, digital platforms, and migration routes.

Bello warned of alarming trends such as fake job and scholarship offers, deceptive online loans leading to forced prostitution, baby factories, organ harvesting, sextortion, and recruitment into cybercrime. She disclosed that NAPTIP’s cybercrime and legal teams have been strengthened and aligned with the Federal Ministry of Justice’s Joint Case Team to counter these digital threats. “Our resolve is firm. We will scale our strategies to outsmart traffickers and protect vulnerable Nigerians,” she stated.

In commemoration of the World Day, NAPTIP announced several activities, including an online townhall, a national sensitisation walk on July 28, and a hybrid stakeholders’ forum on July 30. The forum will gather policymakers, law enforcement, NGOs, survivors, and donors to explore multi-sectoral solutions. Bello praised ongoing media support and highlighted the agency’s achievements under its 5Ps strategy: Prevention, Partnership, Policy, Protection, and Prosecution.

She also expressed gratitude to the Federal Government, First Lady Oluremi Tinubu, and international partners such as UNODC, IOM, EU, Netherlands, and Switzerland for their continued support. Bello stressed that human trafficking is a national security threat and urged all actors—federal, state, community, and private sector to close ranks. “It is a crime that weakens a nation’s foundation. We must unite and kick human traffickers out of Nigeria,” she declared.

UNODC Country Representative, Mr. Cheikh Toure, reaffirmed the agency’s support for Nigeria, describing trafficking as a calculated, transnational crime. He emphasized the need for grassroots empowerment to address vulnerability and called for coordinated cross-border efforts to dismantle trafficking rings. “Policies alone can’t win this fight, we must act decisively, together,” Toure said, commending NAPTIP’s leadership.