Nigeria’s House launches human trafficking investigation
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Vanguard
Nigeria’s House of Representatives tasks three committees with investigating the rise in human trafficking and the activities of criminal networks. Lawmakers want in particular to assess the effectiveness of existing measures against sexual exploitation, forced labour and other forms of abuse, Vanguard reports.
Nigeria’s House of Representatives has decided to investigate the rise in human trafficking in the country and tasked its Human Rights, Interior and Police Affairs committees with examining the activities of trafficking networks and the effectiveness of existing measures, according to Vanguard. The resolution was adopted on Wednesday during a plenary session following a motion by lawmaker Dominic Okafor.
Lawmakers noted that victims were exposed in particular to commercial sexual exploitation, forced labour, domestic servitude, forced begging and organ harvesting. They also called for increased operational resources, funding, intelligence sharing and victim support for the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), police and immigration services, according to Vanguard.
The House also cited poverty, unemployment, insecurity, population displacement, irregular migration and organised criminal networks among the vulnerability factors. Lawmakers recalled Nigeria’s 2015 law on the prohibition and punishment of human trafficking.
