The Benin Zone of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) secured six convictions from January to August.

The Controller of the zone, Mr Nduka Nwanwenne, made this known on Monday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Benin.

The zone established in 2004 comprises Edo and Delta.

The controller said that the zone recorded 82 cases during the period and rescued 158 persons who it had re-united with their families.

Nwanwenne told NAN that 14 out of the rescued persons would be trained by the state government at the state-owned Skills Acquisition Centre, Evbomodu near Benin.

He said that the agency still had a total of 254 cases pending in courts in the two states.

The controller attributed the zone’s success in the fight against human trafficking to intensified sensitisation, surveillance and investigation.

According to him, the zone carried out 33 sensitisation and awareness campaigns during the period.

He advised parents to desist from allowing their children to go overseas for greener pasture without proper documentation.

“Nobody picks gold on the streets of Europe; if you must send your children abroad, do it with proper documentation.

“Desist from allowing your children to be exploited,” Nwanwenne said.

He called for collaboration of all stakeholders in stemming human trafficking. (NAN)