Officials in Ebonyi State said over 50 children were rescued from traffickers in the state between May 2015 and March 2016.
Speaking at a meeting organized by the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons in Abakaliki recently, the state commissioner for Women Affairs, Florence Onwa, said her office and other security agencies recorded cases of child trafficking involving over 50 children in the last few months.
She raised concerns over increasing cases of child recruitment for sexual exploitation and hard labour in state.
Mrs. Onwa said the meeting was organized to look at the ugly trend and assess efforts of the state government to curb the menace.
Also speaking, a police officer in charge of Juvenile Welfare Centre, Grace Okoro, said some of the victims were trafficked abroad through a trans-Saharan highway.
The state commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Rebecca Ogbuewu, assured the stakeholders of government’s readiness to put an end to the illegal business.
Mrs. Ogbuewu said her ministry would also strategize on how to stamp out child labour at rice mills and quarry sites in the state.
-Premium Times
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