ABUJA — Anti-trafficking advocate and founder of the Women Trafficking and Child Labour Eradication Foundation (WOTCLEF), Hajia Titi Amina Atiku Abubakar, has voiced strong concern over the ongoing cross-border exploitation of young Nigerian females.
Addressing civil society partners, community leaders, and rights advocates in Abuja on Friday, Mrs. Atiku-Abubakar warned that deceitful human syndicates continue to trap vulnerable young women with fake overseas employment offers, leaving many stranded, abused, and exploited across foreign nations.
The former Second Lady, whose pioneering advocacy in the late 1990s laid the legislative foundation for the establishment of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) in 2003, expressed deep distress over the country’s international image. She stressed that while economic hardship remains a major push factor, citizens must not be lured into precarious conditions abroad.
“It breaks my heart to see how our young girls are being trafficked out of the country daily. They are lured with false promises, only to end up being used as commodities and becoming a nuisance in foreign lands. This menace must stop, and we must protect the dignity of the Nigerian woman,” Mrs. Atiku-Abubakar stated.
Echoing her concerns, Network Against Child Trafficking, Abuse and Labour (NACTAL) National President, Abdulganiyu Osemene, demanded stricter border monitoring and enhanced community-level intelligence to disrupt organized smuggling networks.
Osemene emphasized that tackling human trafficking requires a multi-pronged strategy combining law enforcement, grassroots sensitization, and social empowerment programs targeted at high-risk communities across Nigeria, particularly in the South-South and North-Central regions.
Stakeholders at the gathering urged state governments to strengthen local protection frameworks and fund vocational initiatives that provide young women with sustainable economic alternatives within the country.
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