FCT DEPT. OF SCIENCE &TECH. PARTNERS NAPTIP ON HUMAN TRAFFICKING, GBV
By: Ngozi Dike-Nkemjika
As part of its social services programme aimed at ensuring the security of its staff and students, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Department of Science, Technology and Innovation in partnership with the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), has organised a one-day sensitisation and awareness workshop on gender based violence and human trafficking for staff and teachers in schools under its purview.
In his keynote address during the workshop held recently in Abuja, the Director of the Department, Mr. Kolawole Olobashola, said that the collaboration was a welcome development as it will help in equipping participants with relevant knowledge and who in turn will educate students.
He commended NAPTIP for its thoughtfulness in bringing the message of human trafficking to students, where it matters most, noting that youngsters are lured into illicit activities in their quest to make ends meet.
“Therefore, catching them young at the school level will help inculcate morals and build rightful orientation for students, as well as educating them on the deadly consequences of getting involved in such acts. I encourage our teachers to see themselves as extended parents to the students, and as such, put in their best in their upbringing-academically and morally,” the Director stated.
In an overview of ‘Human Trafficking and Violence Against Persons’, Mrs. Helen Osariemen Emuze of NAPTIP said that trafficking in persons refers to an act of recruitment, transporting and transfer or harboring of persons by means of coercion, abduction, deception and use of state of vulnerability for personal exploitations such as forced labour, sexual/reproduction purposes, organ harvesting and many more.
She said that the effects of such acts are numerous, including negative effects on the physical health of victims, unwanted pregnancies/forced abortion, diseases, and even the death of victims.
She added that students must be educated on the intrigues of traffickers, and avoid things like secret gifts, secret plans, or foreign job proposals by relatives and friends, avoid secluded areas with members of the opposite sex, as well as desist from friends with materialistic tendencies.
She said that violence against persons, on the other hand, is any act of intimidation or abuse, physically, verbally, or emotionally perpetrated against any person, especially women and children, noting that violence against persons and trafficking in persons are intertwined. Adding that the effects of such acts are gruesome.
Emuze noted that the abused victim may experience physical, uncontrolled aggression, chronic health problems, mental illness, and poor ability to create healthy relationships, psychological instability, and permanent depression, which can lead to death if unchecked.
Speaking on the roles and responsibilities of educational institutions in the fight against trafficking in persons and violence against persons, the NAPTIP Director of Public Enlightenment, Mrs. Kehinde Akomolafe, said that the educational institutions are critical stakeholders in Nigeria’s counter-trafficking architecture because the most vulnerable demography affected by human trafficking is within the school age.
She stated that educational institutions must continue to improve in their social functions to expose the children to the rules of larger society, inculcate discipline and obedience, encourage patriotism, identify and develop talents in students, as well as be their role models.
Akomolafe concluded by appreciating the Department and the teachers for their unwavering support in molding students’ behaviours and urged for more actions through curriculum expansion for further campaign and secured features for the youths.
Earlier, in her welcome address, the Deputy Director in charge of the Gender Unit of the department, Mrs. Josephine Yaccim, said that the sensitisation programme, which started with schools under the Department, was planned to reawaken in students continuously, the need to grow into better individuals, and to the teachers and parents, the need to nurture greater future leaders.
She said that the partnership with NAPTIP in such sensitisation will not be a one-time affair, as students graduate and new ones join yearly, noting that it is a continuous process that requires passion and dedication.
