Beware of human trafficking traps on social media, NAPTIP warns Ogun students

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons has intensified efforts to combat human trafficking among secondary school students in Ogun State, warning that traffickers are increasingly exploiting social media to lure young people into sexual exploitation, forced labour, organ harvesting and other criminal activities.

The Ogun State Commander of NAPTIP, Mrs Bose Jimoh, gave the warning on Thursday during an anti-human trafficking sensitisation campaign at Adeola Odutola College (Senior), Ijebu-Ode, organised in collaboration with the International Centre for Migration Policy Development under its Schools Anti-Trafficking Education and Advocacy Project, funded by the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Jimoh disclosed that the project was designed to reach 50 secondary schools across Ogun State, adding that 36 schools had already been covered, with 30 students inaugurated in each school as members of the Anti-Trafficking and Violence Against Persons Vanguard.

She explained that the student vanguards would serve as NAPTIP ambassadors by educating their fellow students, parents and members of their communities on the dangers of human trafficking and violence against persons.

“The project targets 50 schools across Ogun State, and we have already covered 36 schools. In each school, 30 students have been inaugurated as members of the Anti-Trafficking and Violence Against Persons Vanguard.

“These students are expected to serve as ambassadors against human trafficking by educating their colleagues, parents and other members of society on the dangers of this crime,” she said.

Addressing the students, Jimoh described human trafficking as the recruitment, transportation, transfer or harbouring of persons through force, deception, fraud or coercion for the purpose of exploitation.

She commended the students for demonstrating a sound understanding of the subject during the interactive session.

“You have rightly identified poverty, greed, broken homes, dysfunctional families and moral decadence as some of the factors traffickers exploit to deceive young people. These are the vulnerabilities that criminals capitalise on to recruit victims,” she said.

The commander identified various forms of exploitation associated with human trafficking, including sexual exploitation, labour exploitation and child labour, explaining that child labour specifically involves persons below the age of 18 subjected to hazardous work instead of being in school.

“A child hawking goods on the roadside under harsh conditions when he or she should be in school is a victim of child labour. Labour exploitation generally applies to adults, while child labour concerns children below 18 years,” she explained.

Jimoh noted that although NAPTIP was established in 2003 to tackle human trafficking, traffickers had adopted more sophisticated methods by exploiting digital platforms and social media.

She warned students to be cautious of online friendships, saying traffickers now recruit victims under the guise of sports opportunities, employment offers and romantic relationships.

According to her, one of the emerging trends is sextortion, where criminals manipulate victims into sharing intimate photographs before blackmailing them for money.

“A trafficker may pretend to be your friend online and gradually gain your confidence. The person may ask you to send money and, when you refuse, threaten to expose your nude photographs. They often lure victims into sharing intimate pictures, which later become tools for blackmail and exploitation,” she said.

Jimoh also warned about the growing menace of organ harvesting, describing it as one of the most disturbing forms of human trafficking.

She said, “We now receive terrible cases involving organ harvesting. Victims are trafficked internally or across borders, exploited and, in some cases, their organs are removed. This is one of the reasons prevention remains our strongest weapon.”

Jimoh further warned against illegal migration, noting that many victims die while attempting to cross the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea in search of greener pastures abroad.

“Many victims perish while crossing the desert or the Mediterranean Sea during illegal migration. We do not want that to happen to you. That is why NAPTIP, the International Centre for Migration Policy Development, the education sector and other stakeholders are working together to educate young people on the dangers of human trafficking,” she said.

She urged the newly inaugurated vanguard members to become advocates against human trafficking in their schools, homes, churches, mosques and communities.

“No victim of human trafficking has ever come back to say that he or she benefited from it. It always ends in tears, pain, bitterness and sometimes death. Human trafficking is evil in every ramification, and you must continue to educate others so they do not become victims,” Jimoh added.

Also speaking at the event, the ICMPD Project Officer, Mr Samuel Okoroji, said the sensitisation programme had equipped schoolchildren and their teachers with the requisite knowledge to combat human trafficking.

Okoroji said 50 schools were selected for the project in Ogun State, out of which 36 had already been covered, while the remaining 14 would be reached between September and next year when the project would be concluded.

He said, “We have so far covered 36 schools out of the targeted 50 schools. In phase one, we reached 21,792 students; in phase two, we covered 14,012 students; and in the just-concluded phase three, we reached 15,828 students, bringing the total number to 51,633, while a total of 1,080 students have been inaugurated as members of Anti-Trafficking Vanguard Clubs.”

Okoroji stated that ICMPD was collaborating with NAPTIP, the Ogun State Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, the Ogun State Task Force Against Human Trafficking and other stakeholders to ensure that people at the grassroots were adequately empowered with the right information to combat human trafficking.

He emphasised that ICMPD was encouraged by the cooperation of all stakeholders, particularly the support of NAPTIP, the Ministry of Education, schoolchildren, teachers and parents, noting that winning the war against human trafficking required the collaborative efforts of all Nigerians.

Some of the schools covered during the week include Luba Comprehensive High School, Ijebu-Ode; Ijebu-Ode Grammar School; Ijebu-Ode Muslim College; and Adeola Odutola College.

The Principal of Adeola Odutola College, Mr Temiro Oluwakemi, commended the collaborative efforts of NAPTIP, ICMPD and the Ogun State Government, describing the sensitisation programme as essential to preventing schoolchildren from falling prey to human traffickers.