The Director-General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, Binta Bello, has stressed the need for sustained education and capacity building for teachers as part of efforts to combat human trafficking in Nigeria.

Bello said preventing human trafficking through education and sensitisation remained more effective than addressing its consequences after victims had already been trafficked.

Represented by the Director of Training and Manpower Development at NAPTIP, Ebele Ulasi, the DG spoke on Tuesday in Abeokuta during the opening of a two-day capacity-building workshop for 150 selected secondary school teachers across Ogun State.

The training, themed “Mainstreaming Trafficking in Persons Content Into The Revised National Curriculum,” was organised to expose teachers to the integration of anti-human trafficking education into the basic and secondary school curriculum.

The workshop forms part of the School Anti-Trafficking Education and Empowerment Project funded by the Netherlands government and implemented by the International Centre for Migration Policies Development in collaboration with NAPTIP and the Ogun State Government.

Bello described teachers as critical stakeholders in the fight against human trafficking, particularly at the grassroots level.

She said the training was designed to equip teachers with updated knowledge and skills on trafficking in persons content recently infused into Nigeria’s revised basic education curriculum.

“This workshop is designed to empower subject teachers to effectively deliver trafficking-related content to pupils and students because education remains one of the most powerful tools to prevent human trafficking.

“Trafficking in persons continues to rank among the most serious human rights violations in Nigeria and globally, with children accounting for more than 55 per cent of identified victims.

“And many of these victims are school-age children who should be safe in learning environments but are instead targeted and exploited by traffickers.

“That is why we believe that leveraging on education to create massive awareness among these young ones, to arm them with right information,” she said.

The DG recalled that NAPTIP’s collaboration with the education sector began with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council in July 2014.
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She added that the second phase of curriculum enhancement was completed in 2025 to update and expand trafficking-related content to reflect emerging trends.

“Life is a continuous learning process, and that is why we are here today—to update your knowledge on everything concerning human trafficking, so that you, as teachers, can cascade this knowledge down to our children in schools.

“By teaching trafficking-in-persons themes across selected subjects in both primary and secondary schools, we aim to catch our children young and empower them early enough to protect themselves and others.

“With your help, schools can become early warning platforms and safe havens for vulnerable children,” she said.

She also commended the media for supporting public awareness campaigns against trafficking.

In his remarks, the Ogun State Commissioner for Education, Prof Abayomi Arigbabu, urged teachers to play active roles in protecting children from trafficking and other forms of exploitation by fully integrating trafficking-in-persons education into classroom teaching.

Represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Mrs Tosin Oloko, Arigbabu described the initiative as a strategic intervention aimed at protecting children through education.

“Today’s gathering represents a bold and strategic step towards protecting the dignity, future, and destiny of our children through education.

“In a rapidly changing world where young people are increasingly exposed to deception, exploitation, abuse, and human trafficking, the role of teachers has become more critical than ever,” Oloko said.

Also speaking, the Project Manager with ICMPD, Mrs Rhoda Dia-Johnson, said the training was designed to equip teachers with appropriate teaching methods for delivering trafficking-in-persons content recently infused into the curriculum.

She added that participants were expected to return to their schools as anti-trafficking advocates and extend the training to other teachers across the state.

Officials of ICMPD, Mr Samuel Okorojie and Mr Favour Simeon, also stressed the need to properly equip teachers with knowledge and skills to educate and protect learners against trafficking-related risks, noting that human trafficking continued to spread across communities.