Stakeholders have called for the inclusion of anti-trafficking in the curriculum of colleges of education in Nigeria to combat the activities of human trafficking.

Those who appealed for the inclusion said it would help expose the ills of human trafficking and protect young undergraduates from falling prey to traffickers. This took place at a one-day step-down training of trainers on anti-human trafficking for more than 70 lecturers from colleges of education in Asaba, Delta.

Speaking, Ijeoma David-Ukoko, project officer for the Schools Anti-Trafficking Education and Advocacy Project, said it would be a win-win for all if anti-trafficking was integrated into the curriculum of colleges of education.

She said that the training, organised by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons in partnership with the International Centre for Migration Policy Development, aimed to achieve the objectives of the STEAP project.

She noted that the STEAP project was being facilitated in partnership with the civil society organisation, Hope Health Organisation, which was the implementer at the community levels across the state to achieve results.

Ms David-Ukoko said that the training, funded by the government of the Netherlands, was part of the STEAP project aimed at equipping lecturers with the requisite knowledge about human trafficking and enabling them to pass it on to their students.

She noted that similar training had been carried out in Enugu for lecturers of colleges of education in 2024, which needed to be scaled down in Delta for effective coverage. She added that the STEAP project, a four-year initiative, would conclude within the next two years.

According to her, the whole idea is to enable the school community to buy into the project, raise discussion, and build it into the school curriculum for the proper education of students and communities, thereby equipping them with the knowledge of the traffickers’ tactics.

She stated that the project’s success would be a win-win for both national and international communities, noting that the funding country’s interest was to ensure humanity’s well-being and to end inhuman treatment and trafficking of persons.

Sam Offiah, the zonal commander of NAPTIP in Benin, lauded the project for empowering lecturers with the requisite knowledge to combat human trafficking within the school community.

He noted that the NAPTIP and ICMPD partnership aimed to advance the STEAP project beyond primary and secondary schools and to deepen the fight by incorporating the project into the curricula of higher institutions.

Mr Offiah said that, though there were challenges, to effectively address the issues of human trafficking in Nigeria, the government must have the political will to fight the scourge.

Also speaking, Ijeoma Nwanze, secretary of the Delta State Task Force Against  Human Trafficking and Irregular Migration, said that the training was part of a series of events in actualising the STEAP project in Delta.

Participants lauded NAPTIP and ICMPD for the training, assuring that they would apply the knowledge to drive the STEAP project.

(NAN)