The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has warned secondary school students in Ogun State to be vigilant against human traffickers who are increasingly using social media to lure young people into exploitation.
The warning was delivered during an anti-human trafficking sensitisation campaign held at Adeola Odutola College (Senior), Ijebu-Ode, in collaboration with the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) under the Schools Anti-Trafficking Education and Advocacy Project.
Speaking at the event, Ogun State Commander of NAPTIP, Bose Jimoh, said the initiative aims to reach 50 secondary schools across the state, with 36 schools already covered.
She disclosed that 30 students have been inaugurated in each participating school as members of the Anti-Trafficking and Violence Against Persons Vanguard to educate their peers, families and communities on the dangers of human trafficking.
Jimoh described human trafficking as the recruitment, transportation or harbouring of people through deception, fraud, coercion or force for the purpose of exploitation. She identified poverty, greed, broken homes and moral decadence as factors traffickers often exploit to recruit victims.
The NAPTIP commander warned students to be cautious of online friendships, fake employment offers, sports opportunities and romantic relationships, stressing that traffickers increasingly use digital platforms to target young people.
She also raised concerns over the growing trend of sextortion, where criminals manipulate victims into sharing intimate photographs before blackmailing them for money or further exploitation.
Jimoh also mentioned organ harvesting as one of the most disturbing forms of human trafficking, warning that victims are sometimes trafficked within and outside Nigeria for the illegal removal of their organs.
She also cautioned against illegal migration, stating that many victims lose their lives while attempting to cross the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea in search of better opportunities abroad.
Urging the newly inaugurated student ambassadors to sustain awareness campaigns in their schools and communities, Jimoh stressed that human trafficking only leads to pain, exploitation and, in some cases, death.
Also speaking, ICMPD Project Officer, Samuel Okoroji, said the programme has so far reached 51,633 students across three phases and inaugurated 1,080 students as members of Anti-Trafficking Vanguard Clubs.
He added that the remaining 14 schools under the project would be covered between September and next year through continued collaboration with NAPTIP, the Ogun State Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and other stakeholders.
