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In a worrying pattern that has emerged in Imo State, NAPTIP has disclosed that nearly a dozen teenagers have gone missing in the last 24 months, sparking fears of a sinister force at play and prompting calls for urgent action to ensure the safety and well-being of the state’s youth.
At a recent awareness event marking the 2024 World Day Against Human Trafficking, Commander Ernest Ogbu of NAPTIP delivered a stark reminder of the state’s ongoing struggle with human trafficking.
The program, jointly organized by NAPTIP and NACTAL, drew attention to the urgent need for collective action against this scourge, with the Community Hall in Umudagu-Mberi, Mbaitoli Council, serving as a poignant backdrop for the discussion.
Commander Ogbu sounded a dire warning about the escalating crisis of human trafficking in Imo, where a surge in missing teenagers and child exploitation cases has reached alarming proportions. He issued a clarion call for swift and decisive action from both government officials and community stakeholders to combat this scourge and safeguard the state’s youth.
Ogbu disclosed that in the last two years, over 10 cases of missing teenagers, especially girls were recorded. While some were rescued, the whereabouts of others remain unknown, “raising concern that they may have either been used for ritual purposes or exported out of the country for illicit businesses.”
Read also: Southeast Region Hotspot For Human Trafficking – NAPTIP
The Commander explained that the gathering, made possible through the philanthropic efforts of NAPTIP Ambassador and Rarduja International Founder Eddy Duru, sought to intensify awareness about the perils of human trafficking, sparking a collective response to combat this scourge in communities statewide.
According to Commander Ogbu, the war against human trafficking – which manifests in the sexual exploitation of children, clandestine migration, child selling, and abuse – requires a concerted effort from all stakeholders, highlighting the need for a groundswell of awareness and activism to combat this entrenched menace.
Ogbu said: “We at NAPTIP are getting worried because children are missing in Imo almost daily. We are receiving this complaint every day. Our teenagers, particularly the female ones, are taken outside the country for prostitution and other illicit businesses.
“Just recently, you heard about seven girls of Imo State extraction. Over 15 of them were travelling to Ghana to get lured into prostitution. It took the effort of the agency and other partners to rescue and bring these children back home.”
