In its bid to eradicate human trafficking and related crimes, the Justice Development Peace Centre (JDPC), Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos in collaboration with the Nigerian Conference of Women Religious Against Human Trafficking, Lagos Province and relevant agencies held a Road Walk to create awareness and to sensitise the public against the dangers of human trafficking.
The event which commemorates the 2025 International Day for Prayers and Awareness Against Human Trafficking and feast of St. Josephine Bakhita, Patroness of trafficked persons saw the laity, priests and religious, as well as government officials, take off from Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Apapa, Lagos; speaking and educating residents of Apapa on the menace of human trafficking.
Fr. Osbert Egbe, SMA, Parish Priest, Sacred Heart Catholic Church and former Chair, OLA and SMA Commission against Human Trafficking said the Church carries out this awareness, because Bakhita herself was a victim of human trafficking and in slavery for so many years. According to him, “We try to tell families and individuals in our communities that all of us can do the bit we can to put an end to this scourge, and create awareness that those who are living in these situations already can be set free and brought back to their families and their communities.”
He commended the government for its agency, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), urging the government to put in more effort to aid relevant groups to carry out more work, especially in the area of funding and repatriation of people who have been trafficked. He urged the group to be courageous as they embark on the walk, as he commended Apapa Local Government for supporting the programme. Sr. Theresa Ani, CM, the Coordinator, said the celebration is a day to reckon in the Church and the entire world over, as 2025 is a year of Jubilee of Hope as proclaimed by Pope Francis. According to her, “The day is remarkable as the Church celebrates the feast of St. Josephine Bakhita, who was once a slave, but today, a saint. She was kidnapped as a young child, and later sold off as a slave. But by God’s doing, she was able to surmount all those problems and became a Canossian Sister, and also a saint. She is the patron of the victims of human trafficking.”
She said NCWRaHT, Lagos Province, Pan-African Catholic Theology and Pastoral Network (PACTPAN) Africa, JDPC, Lagos and other collaborating bodies are saying no to human trafficking. In her words, “Since it’s a year of hope, we may ask ourselves, what does it mean to bring hope? If I am a hope carrier, I have to bring hope to the sufferings. And one of those suffering are victims of human trafficking. One of those sufferings are poor and indigent youths in our country. “So, we have moved around Apapa today to ask people to join us to beat up the cases of human trafficking.”
