An Ogun monarch, Olufemi Ogunleye, has called for the inclusion of traditional rulers in policy formulation and sensitisation of Nigerians for a successful fight against human trafficking in Nigeria.
Ogunleye, the septuagenarian Towulade of Akinale, near Abeokuta, said any law designed to improve the society but fail to take into cognisance the culture of the people for which the law is being made may not be effective.
The lawyer-mediator and one-time General Manager, Public Relations at the defunct Nigeria Airways spoke at a national training workshop in Lagos on Tuesday day for the prevention of human trafficking in Nigeria.
Ogunleye, who presented Ogun Council of Obas in the Ogun State Task Force of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Person (NAPTIP) at the workshop tagged, “Boot Camp” for Task Forces across Nigeria in Lagos, commended Ogun State Government for recognizing the traditional institution as a stakeholder that should be carried along in the crusade aimed at eradicating and prohibiting human trafficking in the country.
The Lagos training, sponsored by United Nations agencies such as International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC), NAPTIP, A-TIPSOM NIGERIA and other stakeholders began Monday 19 and will end on Friday, September 23.
It will be recalled that Edo and Delta States notorious for trafficking of persons particularly girls abroad for prostitution.
Available statistics, however, show that Ogun State has emerged as one of the states in focus for human trafficking, hence the need for increased, massive awareness and eradication policy.
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