THE Lagos State Government has partnered with the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons to tackle human trafficking and provide help for survivors of the crime.
The Commissioner for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Mrs Bolaji Dada, disclosed this, according to a statement on Thursday, during a courtesy visit to her office by a delegation led by the Zonal Commander of NAPTIP, Mrs Comfort Agboko, in Lagos.
She said, “The ministry has designed various means to disseminate adequate information on all forms of human trafficking amongst the populace. One of such was a workshop organised for 150 participants in February 2022 with a view to dialogue on ways to curb the societal ill.
“Poverty, being a direct focus that often prompts trafficking, should be well addressed. Our target, therefore, as a poverty alleviation ministry, is to proffer strategies which include various empowerment programmes that would equip survivors of such heinous crime to become advocates in curbing associated ills of human trafficking.”
In her response, Agboko applauded the initiatives and programmes organised by WAPA to financially empower women in the state.
“Familiarisation visits as this, give an opportunity to re-strategise on initiatives and plans to reduce the human trafficking menace through the creation of wealth and job opportunities that would enhance financial independence among women.
“The training programmes which you offer at your vocational centres will certainly help to set the ball of financial stability rolling amongst our women. I must implore you to embark on an aggressive sensitisation of the public, particularly the female gender, on this plan,” she said.
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