ECOWAS urges strict measures to combat human trafficking

• Bemoans $32bn Annual Profit From Global Human Trafficking

Chairman, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Permanent Representative and Liberian President, Helen Sirleaf Johnson, has warned that unless member states take bold steps to implement policy measures it put in place, human trafficking in the sub-region will continue to increase.

Sirleaf Johnson disclosed this yesterday, in Abuja, at a 3-Day opening ceremony of ECOWAS Annual Technical Meeting of Member States Focal Institutions on Counter Trafficking in Persons.

She noted that ‘’despite the progress globally and in our region, trafficking remains a serious human security challenge that defies collective endeavours.

“Unfortunately, very few member states are hitherto, slow in taking bold actions in implementing effective policy measures to combat and stem human trafficking.’’

The Liberian leader said it is more worrisome to note that in line with UNICEF current report, the estimated profit generated from human trafficking globally presently stood at $32 billion Dollars.

Speaking through the Liberian Ambassador to Nigeria, Prof. Al-Hassan Conteh, Sirleaf Johnson urged participants to deliberate on the critical questions of how member states can work together to domesticate the ECOWAS Plan of Action to win the war against human trafficking.