The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, in collaboration with the Network Against Child Trafficking, Abuse and Labour, NACTAL, has secured the release of 15 Nigerian girls trafficked to Mali.
The girls were released with the support of Action Against Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants in Nigeria, A-TIPSOM.
One of them is having a three-year-old boy and two are pregnant.
A-TIPSOM is a project being implemented in Nigeria by the International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policy, FIIAP, and is being sponsored by the European Union (EU).
Speaking during the arrival of the girls on Sunday at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja, the NAPTIP Director-General, Dr Fatima Waziri-Azi, stated that the return of the girls was achieved through a collaborative effort.
Represented by Mrs Angela Agbayekhai, Head, Intelligent and International Corporation Unit, NAPTIP, the Director-General said the process started through the information the agency got from NACTAL, an NGO working in partnership.
The team who went to Mali informed in 2017 estimated that there are about 20,000 Nigerians still trafficked there.
Abubakar said that there was no country in the region that had a formidable platform in terms of child protection mechanisms like Nigeria.
He said that the partnership with ECOWAS countries on child protection mechanisms led to the formation of the West Africa Coalition Against Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants, WACTISOM.
Mrs Ugoh Ogbunide, the Technical Advisor on Partnership, A-TIPSOM, said that all that her organisation had done was to provide support for the return of the girls.
