The International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policy (FIIAPP) said it conducted a capacity-building programme against human trafficking for workers at the country’s points of entry and exit within the Lagos axis.

Federico Millan, team leader of Action Against Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants (A-TIPSOM) Nigeria, said this in a statement on Saturday in Abuja.

A-TIPSOM is championed by FIIAPP and sponsored by the European Union.

Mr Millan said participants at the event were those involved in monitoring the country’s land and sea borders.

He said the workers were drawn from the aviation and transportation sectors, as well as the Nigeria Immigration Service, to acquaint them with proper guidance on the entry and exit points against human trafficking.

He said sensitisation to human trafficking was especially within entry points and was critical because of its attendant danger.

“This activity is quite embarrassing; there is a need to provide knowledge to all the stakeholders working around the border, seaport and transportation sectors.

“This workshop is aimed at nipping in the bud the negative acts of trafficking in persons, smuggling of migrants and sensitisation of members of the public,” Mr Millan said.

Adeola Adesokun, the Comptroller of Immigration at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, said that more synergy among relevant security agencies at the various entry and exit points was critical.

She also called for more sensitisation in schools, NYSC orientation camps, markets and various religious centres.

The statement also reported the Director-General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Prof. Fatima Waziri-Azi, as saying that developing guidelines on human trafficking for the transport sector was very crucial.

She said such guidelines would increase the air transport worker’s ability to identify and handle possible cases of human trafficking.

(NAN)