NAPTIP SCRIBE WANTS AGENCY STRENGTHENED

Egede, represented by Obi Agusiobo, a member of the agency, at a seminar, entitled 'International Law Conference on Challenges in Upholding the Rights of Women and Children,' said  the agency would have been rubbished, if it had taken Senator Sani Yerima to court because 'the law did not give us power to prosecute him.'

He said the Child Rights Act, 2003 and the Anti-Trafficking Act 2003, as amended in 2005, have different power, although both laws seek to protect women and children as victims of trafficking and other forms of exploitation.

The agency was accused of not prosecuting Senator Yerima, who was alleged to have married a 13-year-old Egyptian girl, but Egede, in his reaction, said: 'NAPTIP does not work outside its law and therefore, we could do little in Senator Yerima's matter.'

'When we got the information, we invited Senator Yerima to our office. He was interviewed and allowed to go, after he had satisfied our bail condition,' he said.

'We are not leaving any stone unturned until we reduce cases of child trafficking in the country,' Egede stressed. He charged the public to report human trafficking matter to the agency for necessary action.