The agency’s Director General, Fatima Waziri-Aza, disclosed this at a workshop organised with support from FORD Foundation  on Wednesday in Abuja.

She stated that the cases border on physical violence, separating children from their fathers, and chasing men out of shared homes.

Waziri, reassuring men who are victims that the laws protect them, revealed that 15 complaints have been registered on such cases in 2023.

She noted, “We have also started seeing new trends. In the past, we never used to get complaints from men. But now, we get complaints from men.

“Even though we know that most of these SGBV issues affect women more, but for the fact that men are reporting and are speaking up. It shows us that attitudes that used to be seen as normal in the past, attitude that used to be tolerated, is no longer tolerated. “I know that for this year, we have received about 15 complaints from men. These complaints border on physical violence from their partner. It also bothers on women isolating fathers from their children and pushing their husbands out of their shared home.

This was something that never happened before. In the past I think, men are taught to be strong and internalise issues, but it is gratifying to see that men are speaking up. So this shows that men and boys also go through these issues. The laws are also there to protect them.”

According to her, the workshop provides an avenue for stakeholders to strengthen collaboration among themselves and understand the different roles and responsibilities they each play in tackling SGBV issues while discussing strategies and stepping up advocacy efforts towards preventing and tackling the issue.

“For us at NAPTIP, last year alone, we received about 2,400 cases of SGBV in the Federal Capital Territory, and with figures from January to October, we are closely pushing to the level that we saw last year.

“But one thing I can say for sure, most times when I hear people talking about concerns talking about issues of SGBV. We keep talking about this culture of silence, but I can categorically state that the culture of silence is progressively decreasing, and I say that because we see it in the increase in reportage that we receive as an agency,” she concluded.

The Benin Zone Commander, NAPTIP, Nduka Nwanwene, who disclosed this, added that the agency had intelligence that girls from Mali were being trafficked to Edo State for prostitution.

Nwanwene spoke during the 2023 World Day Against Trafficking in Persons in Benin, with the theme “Reach every victim of trafficking, leave no one behind.”

He said, “We just gathered intelligence that traffickers are bringing in young girls from Mali to Benin for prostitution; we are investigating. But many Nigerians, especially young girls, are stranded in Mali; over 20,000 Nigerian girls are stranded in Mali.

“Mali used to be a destination for girls trafficked from Nigeria  but now the reverse is the case as Mali girls are being trafficked into Benin City for prostitution.”

Nwanwene said NAPTIP, under Prof. Fatima Waziri-Azi, was making progress in the area of conviction of high-profile traffickers, sustained evidence-based rehabilitation, and empowerment of survivors.

He called on stakeholders to galvanise support towards addressing the menace of human trafficking and contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Director-General of NAPTIP, Prof. Fatima Waziri-Azi, disclosed this while speaking  on the sidelines of the just concluded inaugural joint technical working group meeting on a memorandum signed between Nigeria and The Gambia, which was held in Abuja.

Waziri-Azi said it had been observed that human traffickers were now favouring the northern borders as opposed to the southern borders that used to be their haven.

Waziri said, “Historically, traffickers used border points in the southern part of the country like the Seme border to smuggle people out of Nigeria, but in the past five years, traffickers have moved from the South-West region of Nigeria to the North-West region of the country.

“So, we see a lot of trafficking happening through Jibia border in Katsina State, through Sokoto, Zamfara, Kongolom, a border town with Niger Republic and Zinder and Agadez in Niger Republic.”

She expressed the readiness to tackle the menace through collaborations with relevant stakeholders.

The case against Ahmed Yahaya, Mr Ibrahim Isah, the state Internal Auditor and Mr Habibu Abdullahi, the Special Assistant to the Finance Director was referred to NAPTIP by the National Human Rights Commission, Sokoto State Office.

NAPTIP’s Press Officer, Mr Adekoye Vincent said the 12-year-old (name withheld) who sold pure water within the jurisdiction of the offices of the suspects, only came to them for financial assistance some time in May 2019. According to Vincent, they however took advantage of the little girl right inside their offices, one after the other.

Adekoye said “It would be recalled that operatives of NAPTIP arrested the three suspects namely Yahaya, 45, who is the Director of Finance, Ibrahim Isah 46, who is the Sokoto State Internal Auditor, and Habibu Abdullahi 40, who is the Special Assistant to the Director of Finance, about three weeks ago, for the alleged offence. The case was referred to the Agency by the National Human Rights Commission, Sokoto State Office after which the Agency swooped on the suspects.”

The suspects identified as Okokon Essien Bassey and Ofonime Essien Bassey were arrested on Tuesday Fenbruary 18, after approaching one Emmanuel Monday and his pregnant wife to buy their unborn baby for N500,000.

The couple who were advised to play along by NAPTIP officials after filing a complaint, requested for N10,000 from the suspects as a form of commitment and a sign of seriousness.

A statement reads in parts “The Uyo Zonal Command of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has apprehended two suspects for human trafficking in an early hour operation this morning, the two suspects, namely Okokon Essien Bassey, ‘M’, 33 years old and Ofonime Essien Bassey, ‘F’, 40 years old were apprehended. The suspects had on several occasions approached one Emmanuel Monday and his wife who is a mother of two kids and presently pregnant and requested for the purchase of the unborn baby for the sum of five hundred thousand naira (N500,000). On receiving the intelligence, NAPTIP operatives requested the victims to play along with the suspects. In the course of several meetings, the victims demanded the sum of N10,000 from the suspects to show their seriousness in what they were being asked to do. Upon the payment of the N10,000 to the victims the pregnant woman, along with their two kids were handed over to the suspects.”

The arraignment of the suspects was a fallout of the investigation into the much publicized case of Omolola Ajayi, who was trafficked to Lebanon.

The suspects, Mohammed Wafic Hamze, Adetunji Taofeek Sanusi and Tunde Awwal,  were slammed with a three- count charge which bothered on Human Trafficking/ Foreign Travel which Promotes Prostitution or other forms of Exploitation in accordance with Section 18 and 27 (a) & (b) of the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act, 2015.

The case was initially transferred to the Agency by the Kwara State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) after which the three suspect were arrested.

NAPTIP arrested the suspect, following the revelation made by Omolola Ajayi in a viral video which was shared online while she was in captivity.

The agency said in its statement “The Commander, NAPTIP Lagos, Daniel Atokolo will be on hand to speak to the facts of the case at the press conference. The conference will also feature a moderated question and answer session with the Commander and the suspected trafficker.”