The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), on Wednesday, applauded the Canadian government for its contribution to the fight against human trafficking.

Its director-general, Fatima Waziri-Azi, made the commendation in an interview in Abuja.

She was speaking in view of the donation of two four-wheel drive vehicles by the Canadian government to Nigeria.

The vehicles were presented to the agency by the Canadian Ambassador to Nigeria, Jamie Christoff in furtherance of the capacity-building programme funded by the Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

According to her, the vehicles were delivered by ARK Group, a social enterprise that empowers local communities through sustainable interventions aimed at strengthening the campaign against human trafficking in Nigeria.

“The intervention by the Canadian government has been extremely impactful and of course, today we experienced the official hand-over of the vehicles.

“We know that these vehicles will help us access the hinterlands, not just in the FCT, but also in other states across Nigeria.

“Why we are particularly excited about this project is that the outcome is immeasurable. It is one which impact we can immediately see and it is one that directly meets the needs of Nigerians,” she added.

The director-general acknowledged the partnership which started in 2020 between NAPTIP and the Canadian government.

“They have been able to support the agency in various areas, particularly the project: `NAPTIP on the move road sensitisation’ which focuses on scale-up awareness on human trafficking.

“We all know that the frequency of the trafficking within Nigeria happens by road, which was why we made our partnership with luxurious bus companies a priority.

“This project has helped us sensitise more than 2,000 bus drivers and ticket officers working with commercial transporters, such as GUO motors, Cross-country, Young Shall Grow, and Ifesinachi. And that has been very impactful.

“This is because we have actually intercepted victims in the process of being trafficked, and arrested traffickers. And this was made possible because of the proactive interventions by bus drivers.

“So, the project also supported the development of our portal app and such an app is another avenue by which the public could be enlightened about human trafficking issues,” she added.

Mrs Waziri-Azi attributed the successes so far recorded by the agency to intelligence reaching NAPTIP’s learning management system.

(NAN)