National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, says Edo State remains a hotspot for sexual exploitation.
NAPTIP also said that labour trafficking and organ harvesting have continued to thrive in the country.
Zonal Commander of NAPTIP in Benin, Mr Sam Offiah, disclosed this on Tuesday, during a training for Parent-Teacher Association executives from 40 schools in Edo State.
Offiah, represented by Head of NAPTIP’s Public Enlightenment Unit, Mrs Joy Ojiewa, noted that traffickers had become more sophisticated, shifting from street-level recruitment to calculated approaches that exploit trust within families.
He warned that traffickers have now deployed fake scholarships, fraudulent job offers, sextortion, online recruitment and baby factories to lure unsuspecting victims.
He further noted that trafficking feeds on poverty, ignorance and the search for better opportunities, adding that criminals are now targeting parents directly, using deception to gain access to children.
He opined that prevention, driven by awareness, remained the most effective response, alongside protection, prosecution, partnership and policing.
In her remarks, Ms Daniella Ige, Junior Project Officer for School Anti-Human Trafficking Education and Advocacy, STEAP, project at the International Centre for Migration Policy Development in Edo, said parents have been mobilised across the state to take the fight against human trafficking into homes and communities.
Ige warned that traffickers are now targeting families directly with deceptive schemes.
She said the engagement, under the School Anti-Human Trafficking Education and Advocacy project, positioned parents as the first line of defence against the crime.
She added that the STEAP project is implemented by ICMPD in collaboration with NAPTIP, the Girls Power Initiative and the Edo State Ministry of Education.
The Junior Project Officer for STEAP explained that the project, funded by the Kingdom of the Netherlands is aimed at dismantling trafficking networks through grassroots mobilisation and sustained community awareness.
“The engagement marked a strategic expansion of the anti-trafficking campaign to include parents, who are often the first point of contact for traffickers.
“We cannot succeed without parents. When they understand the tactics traffickers use, they can stop exploitation before it happens.
“The project expected PTA executives to drive sustained advocacy within their circles, turning awareness into community-wide action,” she added.
Ige added that the initiative was already recording impact.
