Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has attributed the increase in migration and human trafficking cases in Nigeria to decades of economic suffering.
Yilwatda made this statement on Monday at the Yar’Adua Center in Abuja during the public reading of Ambassador Alex Ugochukwu Oriaku’s novel Vicious Red Circle, which emphasizes the realities of human trafficking in Nigeria.
According to him, the nation’s protracted economic downturn has made its residents more susceptible to human trafficking.
“Our economic decay over four decades created fertile ground for exploitation. When industries collapsed and hope disappeared, migration and trafficking surged,” he said.
Yilwatda stated that the issue stemmed from long-standing economic difficulties, drawing on his experience as Chairman of the African-European Migration and Development Team and Minister of Humanitarian Affairs.
He emphasized that the battle against human trafficking should not be left to government institutions alone and urged stakeholders to create inclusive, community-driven strategies.
“We can stop this cycle. This book challenges us to do so. It must not remain on your shelf — let it remain in your heart,” he said.
Ambassador Oriaku, on his part, described human trafficking as “a vicious, self-perpetuating cycle of exploitation, vulnerability, and silence,” emphasizing that his book was not only fiction but a call to action.
The event, chaired by Yilwatda, was attended by lawmakers, heads of government agencies, and development partners, who all called for stronger collaboration to curb human trafficking in Nigeria.
