The Delta State Taskforce on Human Trafficking and Illegal Migration on Friday marked the 2022 International Day Against Human Trafficking with a symposium on the theme: ‘Use and Abuse of Technology’.
The event attracted critical stakeholders in the fight against human trafficking and illegal migration, including the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), International Organisation for Migration (IOM), security and paramilitary agencies, Ministries, Department and Agencies of government, among others.
In his remarks on the occasion, the State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Isaiah Bozimo, who is also the Chairman, Delta State Taskforce on Human Trafficking and Illegal Migration, said the event was critical in view of the alarming dimension the menace of trafficking in persons and illegal migration had assumed and the need to interact, share knowledge and experience with a view to proffering solutions.
Mr Bozimo stated that the theme of the celebration could not be more apt because technology had evolved to the extent that it had been ingrained in every aspect of life, work and society, with increased accessibility to smartphones, the internet, social media, and cyberspace.
The Attorney General noted that initial suspicions narrowed down the commission of technology-based crimes to internet fraud, which necessitated the setting up of a committee in the state to propose solutions to the problem.
He, however, pointed out that experience had shown that while there were many advantages of technology, criminal gangs and criminal enterprises had exploited it to dupe unsuspecting members of the public through social engineering with which they had succeeded in influencing, stalking, profiling, luring and recruiting their victims and launder the proceeds of their crime in a more elusive and undetectable manner.
Mr Bozimo thanked the State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, for his relentless efforts at combating trafficking in persons in the state, mainly through the various human capital development programmes of his administration aimed at empowering Deltans.
The Attorney General also thanked members of the Taskforce for putting the event together and expressed the hope that the outcome would better equip them to win the fight against the trafficking of persons in Delta and Nigeria at large
The programme featured goodwill messages from the critical stakeholders, among other activities.
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