The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has expressed its readiness to collaborate with the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons (NAPTIP) to curb the menace of human trafficking.
The Executive Vice-Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta said this on Wednesday in Abuja when the Director-General of NAPTIP, Ms Julie Okah – Donli led other management staff on a visit to the commission.
Danbatta who condemned human trafficking, described it as a major form of social problem, adding that all hands must be on deck to check the unpleasant trade.
According to him, the unpleasant trade has caused agony to loved ones.
Danbatta reiterated the commitment of his organisation to collaborate with NAPTIP in line with its eight-point agenda on strategic partnership and co-operation with other agencies.
He said that effort was ongoing to complete the emergency numbers, as the toll free line 622 wouls help citizens lodge complaints.
“We are assuring Nigerians that the 112 facility will be in use in most of the states of the federation, including the FCT by the time the project is completed.
“We see it as an important toll free number that will bring relief to citizens in distress as well as access health care and emergency services.
“It is a very important project and the Federal Government has done the right thing by entrusting the NCC to drive the implementation of this important project in the country”, he said.
Danbatta assured the NAPTIP officials that the commission was committed to ensuring that citizens enjoy efficient telecommunications services.
The NCC boss added that as regulators of telecom infrastructure, there were performance indicators to measure as well as draw the attention of the service providers to ensure conformity.
According to him, the Commission will seek ways to encourage service providers to render assistance in rehabilitating victims of human trafficking.
He, however, advised the agency to collaborate with telecom operators and leverage on the use of free SMS to create awareness on the effects of human trafficking.
Earlier, Okah-Donli said that they were in the commission to seek areas of collaboration and support to in NAPTIP’s sensitisation effort.
Okah-Donli said that NAPTIP would be glad if it could benefit from some of the commissions initiatives such as emergency communication centres, and bulk SMS among others to breach communication gap.
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“We can do this through bulk SMS and other messages, emergency communication centres if you give us the support, this can help us bridge the communication gaps.
“We are also hoping that you will give us three digit numbers for members of the public to use in terms of emergency, so we are thinking we can get something short to help us.
“And we are also appealing that through you, service providers will cooperate with NAPTIP when there is the need to access the call log of a trafficker without much stress,’’ she said.