The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) says it has introduced a “Name and Shame’’ policy to expose those involved in human trafficking activities in the country.

The Director-General of NAPTIP, Ms Julie Okah-Donli, disclosed this at a news conference on Monday in Abuja.

Okah-Donli said that the activities of unscrupulous elements were of great concern to the agency as it would not fold its hands while the population of promising youths was being depleted on daily basis by some heartless persons.

“Let it be known henceforth that NAPTIP has embarked on a “Name and Shame” policy in this regard, to unearth any level of compromise as well as the identity of service providers involved,” she said.

She also cautioned travel and tour operators who had invaded remote villages across the country “harvesting our promising young girls and trafficking them to Saudi Arabia, Oman and Egypt for labour and sexual exploitation, as well as organ harvesting’’.

According to her, this “unwholesome act is being carried out with the active connivance of some unpatriotic medical practitioners, transporters and of course, few bad eggs within some sister security agencies”.

The director-general said that NAPTIP was on a mission to change the narrative of human trafficking around the world as well as change the global perspective about Nigeria.

She disclosed that her agency was also planning to launch an `Operation Rescue Them’, a project that would involve profiling, identification and evacuation of stranded Nigerians and trafficked victims around the world.

She solicited for the cooperation of everyone and pledged to ensure the protection of Nigerian youths, irrespective of their location and circumstances surrounding their predicament.

The NAPTIP boss also expressed concern on the nefarious activities of some unregistered orphanages and baby care homes.

She said that some of the orphanages across the country specialised in outright sales of children.

She urged the various Ministries of Women Affairs as well as the Departments of Gender and Social Welfare in the 36 states of the federation and FCT to monitor activities of orphanages and baby care homes in their states.

According to Okah-Donli, NAPTIP has commenced advocacy with the legislative arms of government across the country with a view to expanding its oversight roles in this regard. (NAN)

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