April 9, 2018

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) says it will train 150 victims of human trafficking in Edo zone on various skills by the end of April.

Mrs Julie Okah-Donli, the Director General of NAPTIP made the disclosure at the final physical verification of victims of human trafficking in Benin on Monday.
Okah-Donli said the empowerment would be done in collaboration with the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

She said that the beneficiaries were part of those who had been rehabilitated and reintegrated into the society to prevent them from being vulnerable group.

The director general, who was represented by Mr Nduka Nwanwenne, Zonal Commander of NAPTIP in Benin, said the beneficiaries would be trained on catering and hotel management, hair dressing and cosmetology.
According to Okah-Donli, the victims will also be trained on computer and secretariat studies, fashion design, bead and soap making, photography, video coverage as well as hair cut.

She said that the empowerment of the victims was central to the NAPTIP Act, 2015, adding that the agency had developed a document for the identification, safe return and rehabilitation of victims.
He noted that since the inception of the zonal command, no fewer than 4,000 victims had been rescued while more than 70 traffickers had been convicted.

Mr Victor Nwaubini, Head of Operations of NEMA, said that the Federal Government was not only interested in the safe return of the victims but to provide durable solution to their problems.

Nwaubini said it was in view of this that the agency was supporting NAPTIP in the empowerment of the victims until the victims were rehabilitated.