The Akwa Ibom government on Saturday decried the spate of human trafficking in the state, noting that it gives the government a bad name.

Deputy Governor Moses Ekpo spoke when the newly posted Comptroller of Immigration Service for the state, George Didel, paid him a visit in Uyo.

Mr Ekpo said the trafficking of innocent people of Akwa Ibom out of the state for undignified labour and other criminal purposes are issues of critical concern to the state government.

“The issue of illegal migration of the people into servitude, does not give us a good image and does not help the young people who at the end of the day, may be victimised or killed,” Mr Ekpo said.

He warned the people and residents of the state to avoid all forms of illegal migration and take due advantage of the new ECOWAS travelling documents provided by the NIS for their cross-border trading.

Mr Ekpo called on the NIS to patrol the waterways in the state to rid Akwa Ibom border areas of all forms of criminalities.

The deputy governor also assured the immigration service of the government’s readiness to assist in checking illegal migration and acts of unbridled human trafficking along its vast borders.

He also commended the NIS for proactive measures in ensuring that people with ill intentions did not take advantage of the hospitable nature of the people of the state to perpetrate evil.

(NAN)