2 weeks ago
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By Adenike Ayodele
The Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Lawal Pedro (SAN), says a full of 4,753 victims of quality trafficking were rescued and supported successful the authorities betwixt 2022 and 2024.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the victims were supported done coordinated efforts by the authorities and the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking successful Persons.
Pedro said this connected Thursday successful Ikeja astatine the 2025 opening ceremonial of the Africa Colloquium Against Human Trafficking, successful concern with Pepperdine University, California, United States of America.
The taxable of the colloquium was: ” A United Front Against Ritual Abuse and Sacrifice.”
He said the accomplishment reflected Lagos State’s beardown committedness to ending quality trafficking and ritual-related crimes done enforcement, protection, and coordination.
He said the Lagos State Task Force Against Human Trafficking had worked tirelessly with applicable agencies and partners to supply counselling, psychosocial support, and rehabilitation for survivors, including minors and persons with disabilities.
He added that the authorities had expanded its shelters for rescued victims, trained 109 section authorities focal persons arsenic assemblage anti-trafficking advocates, and reached much than 5 cardinal residents done statewide consciousness campaigns.
Pedro highlighted that the authorities enacted the Lagos State Organ Harvesting Prohibition Law 2024 to criminalise organ trafficking and enforce strict penalties connected offenders, including aesculapian professionals and transgression syndicates.
He noted that quality trafficking had go a highly profitable transnational transgression linked to organised transgression networks, generating amerciable profits of astir $236 cardinal annually.
“There is simply a request for African countries to unite successful combating the menace.
“It is some our motivation and continental obligation.
“Africa indispensable emergence not successful rhetoric but successful responsibility.
“Let past accidental that from Lagos successful 2025 Africa took a basal and ne'er turned backmost successful the combat against quality trafficking,” Pedro said.
Earlier, the Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Ministry of Justice, Mr Hameed Oyenuga, portion welcoming delegates to the colloquium, urged them to explicit their committedness to corporate enactment alternatively than specified rhetoric.
Oyenuga said the two-day lawsuit was designed to determination participants from conversations to factual commitments and coordinated actions crossed sectors to curb the increasing menace.
He said quality trafficking and ritual-related crimes were analyzable and profoundly rooted successful social, taste and economical systems that made them hard to observe and prosecute.
According to him, the crimes are sustained by transnational and section networks that airs sedate risks to susceptible populations.
Oyenuga said addressing them required not conscionable transgression justness interventions but a corporate work involving investigators, prosecutors, lawmakers, researchers, religion leaders and planetary partners.
He emphasised that occurrence successful the combat against specified crimes depended connected collaboration beyond authorities boundaries.
Oyenuga urged participants to spell beyond speeches and absorption connected processing structural frameworks, tools, partnerships, and resources to support women, children, and young radical from exploitation.
“Africa does not request caller declarations.
“We request implementations and an Africa-free system,” helium said.
The station Lagos rescues 4,753 trafficking victims successful 2 years appeared archetypal connected Vanguard News.
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