The International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policies (FIIAPP) says it has upgraded and refurbished 17 human trafficking shelters for victims across the country.
FIIAPP is a Spanish public foundation working on a project in Nigeria titled: “Action Against Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants in Nigeria (ATIPSOM) funded by EU to end the menace of human trafficking.
ATIPSOM team leader in Nigeria, Mr Raphael-Rios Molina, made this known at a media engagement in Abuja on Thursday.
The upgraded and refurbished shelters are Network Against Child Trafficking, Abuse and Labour (NACTAL), MeCAHT shelter, Abuja, NACTAL Cosudow shelter and SEYP shelter, both in Benin city, Edo state.
Other shelters are the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) shelters in Benin, Osogbo and Abuja, Makurdi, Kano and Sokoto respectively.
Also, Emmanuel world children foundation, the Ark Children Home, Rehoboth homes and skills acquisition centre, La Vie Not Global Mission AKA Living Word Mission (LIWOM), Daughters of Abraham Foundation (DOAF), Abuja.
Also listed are Galilee Shelter Ibadan, Women Trafficking and Child Labour Eradication Foundation (WOTCLEF,) shelter Abuja, Save the Child Initiative Illela Shelter Sokoto and FAHPAC shelter, Ibadan.
The A-TIPSOM team leader said that the line up of activities to mark the EU anti-trafficking day which started in Lagos on Oct. 9 with films festival, was to remind Nigerians that “trafficking is real”.
Molina said that FIIAPP did not have any reason to be happy about the activities since human trafficking “is an illegal business”.
He said that the organisation would continue to support Nigeria in this direction.
“We are commemorating the EU anti-trafficking day slated for Oct. 18, with all these activities, we will like to have more shelters, we will like to work in many places in Nigeria.
“Our objective is to provide better quality life standard for the people, especially those trafficked and smuggled out of their comfort zones; we will continue to support NAPTIP and NACTAL,” he said.
Mr Olubiyi Olusayo, the Director of Research and Development, NAPTIP, who appreciated FIIAPP for the project, noted that trafficking and smuggling of migrants went hand in hand.
He said that effort must be put together by all and sundry to stop these crimes, stressing that victims of trafficking needed shelters to make life more conducive for them.
Olusayo said that the agency was working toward giving trafficked victim shelters in all states of the federation, adding that NAPTIP would continue to look for more partnership.
Mr Abdulganiyu Abubakar, NACTAL National President said that the upgrading and refurbishing of trafficked victim’s shelter was a major milestone since the past 16 years of NACTAL.
He appreciated the foundation for the major work, adding that the network had been looking for how to make the environment conducive for victims of trafficking.
According to him, the foundation is different in so many ways from other organisations he has come across, and the organisation’s humanitarian interventions cut across the country.
He said that FIIAPP had taken it upon itself not to concentrate on Abuja alone but across the country, saying that this was the first time a partner was investing heavily in the country.
Abubakar pleaded with the media to take the message against human trafficking and smuggling of migrants across the country to help eliminate the scourge.
Other partners such as the Nigeria Immigration Service, and the Nigeria Police were present at the event. (NAN)