Abuja: The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) and Expertise France, a French Development Agency (AFD), have inaugurated the PROTECT project to strengthen anti-human trafficking efforts across Nigeria and West Africa.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the project was inaugurated on Monday in Abuja alongside a two-day workshop for NAPTIP intelligence and senior officers to validate inception-phase activities. Mr. Modeste Krah, Head of the PROTECT project, stated that the initiative was designed to strengthen institutional and operational capacities in combating human trafficking and promote cooperation across the Gulf of Guinea region.
Krah highlighted that Expertise France worked closely with NAPTIP and regional stakeholders between 2019 and 2024 through the ALTP project to enhance anti-trafficking institutions and foster regional collaboration and coordination. Notable achievements include the establishment of the digital travel declaration platform (TICAP), the 627 to
ll-free reporting line, and the renovation of NAPTIP facilities in Ondo State.
The partnership generated significant progress while also revealing areas requiring stronger cooperation and additional support, which led to the development of the PROTECT project to address those gaps. ‘PROTECT brings together five countries-Benin, Guinea, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Togo-with a shared ambition to strengthen the prevention of human trafficking, the protection of victims and survivors,’ Krah explained.
The project also aims to enhance prosecution of perpetrators and deepen cooperation among institutions and stakeholders involved in combating human trafficking across participating countries within the West African sub-region. It follows the well-established 4Ps approach: Prevention, Protection, Prosecution, and Partnership, with particular emphasis on strengthening institutional capacities, gender-sensitive responses, cross-border cooperation, and the production and use of quality data.
Krah detailed that Compone
nt One focuses on strengthening coordination, gender sensitivity, and effectiveness of national institutions involved in combating trafficking at both central and operational levels across participating countries. Component Two supports strengthening the criminal justice chain, including gender-sensitive approaches, collaboration among relevant actors, and improved knowledge and ownership of applicable legislative frameworks.
Component Three is centered on preventing trafficking and protecting victims and survivors, including voluntary repatriation support and socio-economic reintegration that reflects gender-specific experiences and needs of beneficiaries. Component Four seeks to strengthen bilateral, cross-border, and regional cooperation to prevent trafficking and dismantle criminal networks, while Component Five focuses on improving data production and analysis.
Krah emphasized that human trafficking continues to evolve, and institutional responses must adapt rapidly to match emerging trends, methods, a
nd technologies increasingly exploited by traffickers worldwide. He noted that traffickers are increasingly using digital technologies, social media platforms, and online tools to recruit, manipulate, and control victims, making detection and intervention more challenging for authorities.
Trafficking networks, according to him, are becoming more sophisticated and increasingly linked to other forms of organized crime, requiring stronger cooperation, better intelligence systems, and more effective institutional responses. This challenge necessitates strengthened investigative and prosecutorial capacities, alongside effective mechanisms for identifying, referring, and protecting victims, which informed activities undertaken during the project’s inception phase.
PROTECT conducted diagnostic assessments covering institutional coordination, asset recovery and governance, digital systems and emerging trafficking trends, as well as gender considerations affecting anti-trafficking responses. These assessments provid
e an evidence base for identifying priority areas and determining where the project can provide practical, targeted, and sustainable support to stakeholders.
In her remarks, NAPTIP Director-General Hajia Binta Adamu-Bello noted that the workshop was taking place at a time when human trafficking continued evolving in complexity, sophistication, and geographical reach. She stated that human trafficking was no longer confined to identifiable physical spaces or traditional recruitment methods but increasingly exploited digital technologies and social media platforms to target vulnerable individuals.
Adamu-Bello remarked that human trafficking is now exploring social media platforms, economic vulnerabilities, irregular migration channels, conflicts, displacement, unemployment, and other circumstances that place individuals at risk. She highlighted that the Government of Nigeria, through NAPTIP and other relevant institutions, had continued to demonstrate its commitment.
NAPTIP has been at the forefront of Niger
ia’s response to human trafficking since its establishment, implementing its mandate through policy, prevention, protection, prosecution, and partnership interventions. On the prevention front, NAPTIP has intensified public enlightenment and awareness campaigns across communities, schools, markets, transport corridors, religious institutions, vulnerable communities, and other strategic locations.
Adamu-Bello concluded by stating that the PROTECT project has the potential to significantly strengthen NAPTIP’s counter-trafficking efforts by improving institutional coordination and enhancing collaboration among agencies and stakeholders nationwide. The project will also strengthen capacity to respond to digital and emerging forms of trafficking and contribute to improving NAPTIP’s data management and information systems.