By Gloria Acholonu (Imo State Correspondent, in Owerri)
Media Relations Consultant, Chief (Dr) Fidel Onyeneke, has urged Nigerians to join hands with appropriate Agencies in the fight against Human Trafficking.
Onyeneke made the appeal in Owerri while reacting to the incessant cases Human Trafficking which had brought agony to some homes in the Country. He observed with dismay that certain persons had engaged in this illicit trade using economic hardship in the Country as an excuse.
The former Adviser to the Imo State Governor on State Orientation stressed that it was ungodly for some Cabals to lure unsuspecting people including Youths,to foreign Countries where they subject them to Slavery, Prostitution,Organ Harvesting,Hard labour and other frustrating situations.
He called for intensified Intelligence gathering by Security operatives and the provision of adequate Information by the masses as a deliberate effort to apprehend the perpetrators of these evil acts. Onyeneke urged various groups and organizations,including the Media,Religious organizations and Non-Governmental organizations to embark on Advocacy and Public sensitization programs in order to educate the people of the dangers in trafficking.
Chief Onyeneke advised The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons(NAPTIP),to expose the numerous strategies used by the Traffickers to deceive their Victims,so that people would be conscious of such negative approaches.
The Media Relations Consultant cautioned parents and other rural dwellers to raise alarm whenever strangers approached them with attractive offers in order to take their children away for greener pastures. Chief Onyeneke appealed to Security operatives to live up to their expectations in this direction,adding that those arrested for Human Trafficking should be made to face the wrath of the Law.
Onyeneke who lamented that most rural dwellers were prone to trafficking,called for Community Engagements at the Local Government levels which would involve Women,Youths and Traditional Leaders,to further enlighten the masses. NNL.