The Niger State Government says it is preparing to establish a task force to tackle child trafficking, child labour, abuse and other forms of exploitation in the state.
The Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Hadiza Kuta, disclosed this during a stakeholders’ dialogue on trafficking, abuse and labour organised by the Network Against Child Trafficking, Abuse and Labour in Minna.
Kuta said the state government was committed to addressing issues such as sexual exploitation, child labour, illegal mining involving minors, domestic servitude, exploitative recruitment and irregular migration.
She said, “Since this government came on board, we have been trying so hard to see if we can put an end to child trafficking, child labour and abuse.
“We will make sure we do all we can to get the task force ready as soon as possible.”
The immediate past National President of NACTAL, Abdulganiyu Abubakar, described Niger State as a transit route for human trafficking and stressed the need for a coordinated response to protect vulnerable children and prevent illegal trafficking.
He said establishing the task force would help ensure that children were taken off the streets and residents were protected from trafficking networks.
Also speaking, a representative of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, Moses Unongo, said 32 states had established anti-human trafficking task forces, while Niger and three other states were yet to do so.
In a presentation titled “The Need to Establish a Niger State Task Force on Human Trafficking,” Unongo identified poor coordination among stakeholders as a major obstacle to combating trafficking and related abuses.
He cited fragmented interventions, inadequate information sharing, overlapping responsibilities, weak referral systems and limited collaboration among relevant agencies as factors undermining efforts to address the problem.
The immediate past Niger State Coordinator of NACTAL, Olasukanmi Kalejaiye, and his successor, Stephen Adeoye, also urged stakeholders to strengthen cooperation in tackling human trafficking, child abuse and labour exploitation.
They described the challenges as deeply rooted and called for sustained collective action to protect children and other vulnerable groups.
