Nation
Group Trains Security Personnel On Ways To Tackle Human Trafficking
The European-funded Project A-TIPSOM Nigeria has commenced the training of some security personnel and members of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) on the use of social media Apps to tackle human trafficking.
The two-day training was organised by A-TIPSOM, in collaboration with the International and Ibero American Foundation for Administration and Public Policy, using social media handles, such as WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook.
The participants included CSOs, the Police, Immigration and National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking In Persons drawn from the five South-East states of Enugu, Abia, Anambra, Imo and Abia.
Speaking at the training in Enugu on Wednesday, the Team Leader of A-TIPSOM, Mr Raphael Molina, said the exercise was part of their action against trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants into Nigeria.
Molina, represented by A-TIPSOM Communication Officer, Mrs Josephine Osuigwe, said the training became necessary as traffickers had developed technological means of recruiting and controlling their victims through online platforms.
According to him, recruiting victims online is now less risky than recruiting victims in person.
“Sometimes, when victims are recruited through social media sites, they never meet the traffickers in person,” he said.
Molina said that deploying the social media as tools to fight the scourge and smuggling of migrants would yield huge result, if participants adopted it in their fight.
He further said that the event was part of the organisation’s activities organised to commemorate this year’s International Women’s Day (IWD).
“The programme, which coincided with the IWD, focused on how trafficking in persons affected women who are vulnerable to it,” he said.
He said that women being caregivers in homes have a great role to play to ensure that children are brought up in the right way to avoid incidences of trafficking.
Mr Abdulganiyu Abubakar, the National President, Network Against Child Trafficking, Abuse and Labour (NACTAL), said he attended the event to support the members in the zone on their advocacy and community engagement.
He said that 33 members of NACTAL from the zone converged on Enugu to train on how to use social media to counter the criminal act.
Abubakar, who said the training would be of great benefit to their members, urged traditional and religious leaders to support the fight against human trafficking in the country.
The Leader, Youth Child Support Initiative, Mrs Ijeoma Nnaji, said women had enormous work to do at home to ensure that children were trained the way they should.
Nnaji urged the participants to use their various groups to sensitise others, especially at the community level, on the danger of human trafficking.
“Due to ignorance, many rural women give their kids out without knowing where they are being taken to and the work they do,” she said.
She commended the organisers of the training for doing a great job.
A police officer from Ebonyi Command, Mr James Chibuko, said the police always support the campaign against trafficking in persons.
“It is only the Judases among us that often soil the police image by aiding and abeting the crime,” Chibuko said.
The Lagos State Government has disclosed that 26,592 public school students failed the 2024 West African Senior School Certificate Examination, raising alarm across the state’s education sector.
The state Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Jamiu Alli-Balogun, during a ministerial press briefing yesterday in Alausa, Ikeja, said that “45.7 per cent of the 58,188 students from public schools who sat for the exams did not pass.”.
This failure rate comes despite the state government’s significant financial backing N1.577 billion was paid on behalf of the students to cover WAEC fees.
“Suffice to say that the sum of N1,577,794,000 only was paid by the state government as examination fees for 58,188 students who were captured for the year 2024 WASSCE,” Alli-Balogun announced.
In a bid to tighten accountability and avoid wastage, the Commissioner disclosed that biometric and image registration was carried out to accurately determine eligible students for government sponsorship for the 2025 WASSCE.
“The exercise successfully captured and registered 56,134 students as bona fide beneficiaries of the Lagos state government’s sponsorship for the examination,” he added.
However, the Lagos State Government rolled out a bold educational intervention – the Eko Learners’ Support Programme for WASSCE and NECO candidates – aimed at reversing the tide of academic failure in the state’s public schools.
Launched on January 14, 2025, the initiative is part of a broader commitment by the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education to equip Lagos students with tools for success.
“This forward-thinking initiative was designed to support and empower young scholars in attestation of the ministry’s commitment to advancing interest and management of the educational system in Lagos State,” Alli-Balogun stated.
Ekiti State Government says it has vaccinated 226,429 eligible girls in the State against the Human Papilloma Virus, an infection believed to be a leading cause of cervical cancer.
The wife of the Ekiti State Governor, Dr Olayemi Oyebanji, said the HPV immunization exercise, which she flagged off in the State in May 2025 was a great success, noting that it reached targeted communities and protected children against cervical cancer.
The governor’s wife made the disclosure in Ado Ekiti yesterday during a one-day stakeholders’ sensitisation meeting on the introduction of Measles Rubella vaccines in Ekiti State.
She said, “The introduction of Measles Rubella Vaccines is a very crucial step towards protecting Ekiti children particularly the target age group of nine to 14 years from diseases.
“I urge all women in the State to regularly scan their breasts. This can be done with the aid of the Mammography machine which is available at Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, Ado Ekiti”.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Oyebanji Filani, noted that the Measles Rubella vaccines would be rolled out nationally in October, 2025.
Filani said that the State was taking proactive steps to sensitise residents of the State before the date to ensure adequate awareness on the vaccines by citizens.
The Acting Ochimba of Ogida in Etche Local Government Area of Rivers State, Eze Ndudiri Azuatalam, says peace remains paramount in the socio-economic development of Etche land.
Eze Azuatalam, however, called on his people to embrace and eschew violence at all times.
The Onwa Nagbara Oha made the call during the official commissioning of his palace at Ogida recently.
The epoch-making ceremony held at his palace saw the attendance of members of the Etche Supreme Council of Traditional Rulers and Chiefs; the academia; the political class; the clergy ; women as well relevant stakeholders within and outside Etche land.
The Ngbaragida of Azuafor re-emphasised the essence of peace and social harmony which he said open the window for meaningful development to take place.
He also sought the support and collaboration of his people to achieve the desired goals of development, progress and prosperity.
He noted that the peace being witnessed in the area must be sustained through collective effort, saying, contributions and sacrifices need to be made by all concerned to live in peace.
Eze Azuatalam said his aim towards building a better Ogida cannot be compromised as he and his people have no other place called home.
The Acting Ochimba said as part of efforts to build a better Ogida, he has instituted a number of development projects, adding that some of his kinsmen have been empowered through his hard-earned money and resources, saying, he will continue to assist the less- privileged around him.
He reaffirmed his desire to impact positively on the lives of his people as the engagement of the youths will help to reduce social vices in the area.
He thanked members of the Etche Supreme Council of Traditional Rulers and Chiefs for honouring his invitation.
He specifically thanked the Onyi Ishi Etche and Ochie of Etcheland, His Eminence E mmanuel Opurum for leading Etche on the path of prosperity, and described the revered King as a role model to the younger generation.
He said his fatherly role has been a source of hope and inspiration to his subjects.
The palace was unveiled by His Eminence with the assistance of Ochimba of Abara, Eze Jonah Nwala and other prominent Etche traditional rulers and chiefs while the Onyi Ishi Etche was represented by Eze Ken Nwala, Onyi Ishi Agwuru, Ulakwo/ Umuselem Clan.
The Onyi Ishi Etche urged other prominent sons of Etche to emulate the kind gesture of Eze Ndudiri Azuatalam as his magnanimity is being seen and appreciated by his people.
Eze Azuatalam also applauded the efforts of Prof Mekuri Ndimele, former Vice Chancellor of the Ignatius Ajuru University of Education in the growth of Etche land.
According to him, during Ndimele’ s tenure, a lot of development projects were sited at the institution, including the development of Etcheland and empowerment of Etche people.