By Kadiri Abdulrahman/Jessica Dogo
#TrackNigeria: The Women Trafficking and Child Labour Eradication Foundation (WOTCLEF) has taken its campaign against human trafficking and child labour to primary and secondary schools to enlighten young Nigerians.
Mrs Imabong Sanusi, Executive Director of WOTCLEF made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigerian (NAN) on Monday in Abuja.
Sanusi said that the foundation was also reaching out to the young ones by creating anti-trafficking brigades in the schools.
“We at WOTCLEF understand that enlightenment is key, and we understand that it is more effective to enlighten people when they are young and that informed our engagement with young ones in schools.
“We are setting up WOTCLEF anti-trafficking brigades in selected public and primary schools in Nigeria, starting from Abuja.
“Through that, our young children will be enlightened on the ills of human trafficking, how to detect potential traffickers and how to avoid being victims,’’ she said.
Sanusi said that, WOTCLEF was also collaborating with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to carry the anti-trafficking message to the grassroots.
“We also have this partnership with the NYSC scheme, through which the corps members help us to carry the message to the grassroots.
“This is particularly effective because corps members are usually posted to all nooks and crannies of the country.
“We were able to reach 7000 of them in Abuja alone, and we were able to enlighten them on the ills of human trafficking,’’ she said.
She said that the foundation was able to reach more than 10,000 Nigerians through its various platforms in 2018, adding that it was poised to do more in 2019.
“In 2018, we were able to reach over 10,000 Nigerians with our campaigns, through the various platforms, and we intend to improve on that this year,’’ she said.
She advised Nigerians to heed the warnings and avoid irregular migrations, which could make them victims of human trafficking.
“We will continue to sensitise our people on the dangers of irregular migration and how it can result to human trafficking but there is little we can do if they refuse to heed.
“When victims are trafficked, they are usually kept in servitude and it becomes easy for them to be exploited,’’ she said. (NAN)
