NIS Rescues 134 Children From Traffickers In Oyo
The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) in Oyo State has said about 134 children were rescued from traffickers between January and May this year.
An Assistant Comptroller at the command, Mr Folusho Akintola, disclosed this while fielding questions from newsmen after a stakeholders’ conference organised by the Justice, Development and Peace Commission in Ibadan on Tuesday.
The conference was organised to mark the 2017 UN World Day against Child Labour, celebrated annually on June 12 with the theme ‘Impact of Conflicts and Disasters on Child Labour’.
Akintola said that of the rescued children, 117 were reunited with their families, and six repatriated, while 38 traffickers and 107 end users were arrested during the period.
According to him, 11 victims and four traffickers were sent to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons and other related Matters (NAPTIP).
Akintola attributed the cause of child trafficking in the country to parental negligence.
“We all know the evils of child labour and human trafficking. Poor parenting is mostly responsible.
“Parent’s negligence lead to moral decadence that are common with children nowadays,” he said.
However, Mrs. Omotayo Mala-Adebayo, the Head, Women Development and Child Rights Programme, Ibadan, said that conflict in the homes was the root cause of child trafficking and labour.
According to her, conflicts within the home give rise to violation of child rights and child abandonment, which itself is a form of child trafficking and labour.
“Child labour and trafficking is not restricted to just poverty; parental separation is a menace we need to eradicate because the resultant effect of that is child abandonment and labour”.