TheCable

Ibrahim Magu, acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), says the anti-graft agency is prepared to go against traffickers.

In a statement, Wilson Uwujaren, spokesman of the EFCC, quoted Magu as saying this when he received a delegation from the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) in his office in Abuja.

The acting EFCC chairman said corruption is the reason Nigerians are risking their lives to go to Europe through the Mediterranean sea.

He said Nigerians must come together to end trafficking.

“We are prepared to go after human traffickers because we strongly believe that it is an aspect of corruption, and corruption is the greatest enemy of Nigeria,” Magu said.

“Corruption is the reason why young Nigerians are risking their lives walking through the Mediterranean up to Spain and other European countries in search of greener pasture.

“It is a very sad situation, and we must change the trend by ensuring that we join hands to fight corruption, as this is the only solution to the ills militating against our country’s development

“EFCC has an enormous task in the fight against corruption, and NAPTIP is also a stakeholder in the fight, so we also need your assistance and collaboration.”

On her part, Julie Okah-Donli, director-general of NAPTIP, said the agency recorded 331 convictions since 2004, with various other ongoing cases at advance stages in different courts.

“Organ trafficking, which is now becoming a big business, is another form of human trafficking,” Okah-Donli said.