The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), yesterday, educated people with disabilities about the new trend of human trafficking and exploitation in Edo State.
Speaking at the event, which was held as part of activities to commemorate Human Trafficking Day in Benin, the NAPTIP commander for the Benin zonal office, Nduka Nwawenene, a lawyer, said that sensitization was necessary because people with disabilities have also become victims of human trafficking.
There have been silent recruitment and exploitation of persons with disabilities, so with this enlightenment, it is an avenue to bring them into the NAPTIP effort to end human trafficking, he said.
He stated that the program was created to educate them on human trafficking and organ harvesting, which is currently a new trend in human trafficking.
He stated that the agency has secured the convictions of 124 traffickers across the country between January 2022 and now.
Ann Obehi Ojugo, chairman of the Joint National Association of Persons Living with Disabilities (JONAPWD), said the sensitization was timely because they had discovered that people with disabilities, particularly the deaf and dumb, were being trafficked.
She claimed that most of its members, particularly the deaf, had congregated due to a lack of information and awareness, and had become victims of human trafficking and exploitation.