With children accounting for more than 75 per cent of trafficking victims in West Africa, the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) has intensified preventive efforts by training teachers in Enugu State on a new anti-trafficking curriculum approved for schools nationwide.
The two-day capacity-building workshop, funded by the Kingdom of the Netherlands and implemented in partnership with the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), brought together teachers from selected schools to strengthen early detection and prevention of trafficking among school-aged children.
Head of ICMPD Nigeria Office, Ms. Isabelle Wolfsgruber, described human trafficking as one of the most disturbing threats facing Nigerian children. She noted that the alarming statistic — that over 75 per cent of trafficked persons are children — underscores the urgent need to equip teachers with tools to identify risks and protect pupils.
According to her, the School Anti-Trafficking Education and Advocacy Project (STEAP) was designed to deepen teachers’ understanding of TIP, improve practical classroom application, and create a network of Anti-Trafficking Champions in schools.
Wolfsgruber commended the Enugu State Ministry of Education, NAPTIP, and the Kingdom of the Netherlands for their collaboration in safeguarding children across communities.
Declaring the workshop open, NAPTIP Director-General, Dr. Binta Bello, represented by Mrs Ebele Ulasi, said human trafficking remained one of Nigeria’s gravest human rights abuses, with 55 per cent of victims being children within the country. She emphasised that such children, who deserve safe classrooms, often fall prey to exploitation.
Bello noted that integrating anti-trafficking content into school curricula had been years in the making, adding that teaching TIP themes in primary and secondary schools would empower children early enough to protect themselves.
The workshop, held across the five STEAP states — Delta, Edo, Enugu, Benue and Ogun — equipped teachers with modern methodologies, pedagogical tools, and age-appropriate techniques for delivering TIP lessons.
Mr Caroline Avah, Director of Review, Enugu State Ministry of Justice, said the state government continued its partnership with ICMPD to arrest and prosecute suspected traffickers.
Similarly, Mr Patrick Ochie of the Ministry of Education reaffirmed the state’s commitment to safeguarding learners, noting that prevention through education remained one of the strongest defences against traffickers.
