The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has inaugurated 1,080 secondary school students as members of Anti-Trafficking Vanguard Clubs in Ogun State after warning that it is now handling disturbing cases of organ harvesting linked to human trafficking.
The agency said the student ambassadors will help protect young people from traffickers who now use social media, fake jobs, sports offers and online relationships to recruit victims. The initiative matters as it shifts prevention into schools, where students can help stop trafficking before it begins.
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The campaign forms part of a project targeting 50 secondary schools in Ogun State. So far, 36 schools have been reached, with 30 students selected from each school to serve as Anti-Trafficking and Violence Against Persons Vanguard members.
The programme aims to give students the knowledge to identify trafficking tactics and pass the information to classmates, families and people in their communities.
The warning also reflects a change in the crimes NAPTIP is confronting. While sexual exploitation and forced labour continue, the agency said organ harvesting has become one of the most disturbing forms of trafficking. At the same time, traffickers are relying more on digital platforms to find and deceive victims, making awareness among teenagers more urgent.
Students take anti-trafficking message into schools
A Punch report on Friday revealed that the Ogun State Commander of NAPTIP, Mrs Bose Jimoh, said the agency has already inaugurated student vanguards in 36 schools, bringing the total number to 1,080.
She said the students will serve as ambassadors against human trafficking by educating fellow students, parents and members of the public about the dangers of the crime.
The project is being carried out with the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) under its Schools Anti-Trafficking Education and Advocacy Project, with funding from the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
ICMPD Project Officer, Mr Samuel Okoroji, said the campaign has reached 51,633 students in three phases. He said 21,792 students were reached in the first phase, 14,012 in the second phase and 15,828 in the third phase.
He also said the remaining 14 schools in the project will be covered between September and next year before the exercise ends.
Schools visited during the latest phase include Luba Comprehensive High School, Ijebu-Ode, Ijebu-Ode Grammar School, Ijebu-Ode Muslim College and Adeola Odutola College.
Agency warns organ harvesting cases are increasing
Jimoh warned that traffickers now exploit social media to lure young people with fake promises of employment, sporting opportunities and romantic relationships.
She also warned students about sextortion, where criminals persuade victims to share intimate photographs before using the images to demand money or force them into exploitation.
Drawing attention to organ harvesting, she said the agency is receiving disturbing reports linked to the crime.
“We now receive terrible cases involving organ harvesting. Victims are trafficked internally or across borders, exploited and, in some cases, their organs are removed. This is one of the reasons prevention is our strongest weapon,” she said.
Jimoh explained that human trafficking involves recruiting, transporting or keeping people through deception, fraud, force or coercion for exploitation.
She said poverty, greed, broken homes, dysfunctional families and moral decline make many young people vulnerable to traffickers.
The commander also explained the difference between labour exploitation and child labour, noting that children below 18 who are forced into hazardous work instead of attending school are victims of child labour.
She urged students to be careful about friendships formed online and avoid illegal migration routes, warning that many people die while crossing the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea.
Jimoh encouraged the newly inaugurated student ambassadors to spread anti-trafficking messages in their schools, homes, churches, mosques and neighbourhoods so that more young people can recognise trafficking tricks before becoming victims.
The Principal of Adeola Odutola College, Mr Temiro Oluwakemi, praised the campaign, saying educating students about trafficking will help prevent them from falling into the hands of criminals.
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