A quiet civic movement, led by the National Orientation Agency, is taking shape, making young girls ask questions, making mothers listen twice and entire communities just a little harder to deceive, writes Assistant Editor EMMANUEL BADEJO
In the streets of Benin City, whispers of missing girls and false travel promises have long been a staple of the markets and homes. For years, Edo State and parts of the South-South bore the painful reputation of being trafficking epicenters, especially for young women deceived by foreign job scams. But since late 2023, a quiet civic resistance has been building and is being fronted by the National Orientation Agency (NOA).
From Ondo to Akwa Ibom, Lagos to Delta, the NOA has turned human trafficking from a backroom fear into a matter of open public discourse, using schools, markets, religious spaces, and media to awaken communities to the threat and the tools to fight back.
In Ondo State, the tide began to turn in December 2024. NOA’s state office, in collaboration with civil society groups, launched a grassroots campaign targeting rural communities where traffickers often recruit. Community leaders in Akure and Okitipupa were trained to recognize common recruitment schemes such as fake scholarships, travel opportunities and modeling contracts. They, in turn, held family-level conversations, particularly in households with adolescent girls.
In Delta State, NOA’s field officers joined forces with local vigilante groups and schools in Warri and Ughelli to host sensitization rallies. School sessions did not just focus on “stranger danger,” but explained how trafficking can begin with a trusted relative, a family friend or even someone from the church offering help.
At one of these rallies in late January 2025, a 16-year-old girl stood up during the question and answer session and asked, “If my aunty in Italy wants to bring me, how do I know if it’s real?” That question, NOA officials said, is why they do the work they do.
In Lagos State, NOA took a broader approach, folding anti-trafficking messages into their Yuletide public safety campaign in December 2024. In areas like Dopemu, Ikorodu, and Ajegunle, the agency conducted street sensitization treks, handed out flyers and used mobile public address systems to engage street traders, transport workers, and market women.
Radio jingles, aired in both Yoruba and Pidgin English, warned: “No let dem deceive you with Europe story. Make you sabi who you follow!” Youth volunteers, trained by NOA officers, distributed leaflets bearing emergency helplines and signs to watch for like sudden travel arrangements, unclear job offers and the demand for secrecy.
At Lagos Island Girls’ Secondary School, the campaign took the shape of an interactive drama, showing how an innocent girl lured with promises of a job in a beauty salon ended up trafficked.
In Edo State, where human trafficking has taken many lives and destroyed many futures, the NOA doubled down on cultural and family-based intervention. Beginning in November 2024, town hall meetings in Benin, Ekpoma, and Uromi brought together mothers, pastors, local vigilantes, and youth leaders to dismantle the myths of overseas jobs.
“We are not saying don’t dream,” said one NOA official at a session in Igueben. “We are saying: dream with your eyes open.”
In Cross River, particularly in Calabar South and Biase, NOA campaigns were merged with broader dialogues around gender-based violence and social media risks. Female students in secondary schools were engaged on how recruiters now operate via Instagram and WhatsApp, often posing as agents for entertainment jobs.
Faith-based groups were also drawn in. At a November 2024 interfaith dialogue hosted by NOA Cross River, both Christian and Muslim clerics agreed to dedicate monthly sermons to themes of protection, dignity, and the dangers of irregular migration.
What makes the NOA campaigns stand out is their emphasis on empowerment rather than fear. In Ogun State, a radio roundtable featuring a social worker, a parent, and a trafficking survivor aired on Rockcity FM in early 2025. The survivor, who had been rescued from Mali, said, “I wish someone had told me then what you’re telling these girls now.”
In Osun State, the focus shifted to digital trafficking. NOA partnered with local youth organisations to train girls in Ede and Ilesa on how to spot fake job ads and suspicious DMs. A recurring message.
The launch of the National Value Charter (NVC) in October 2024 gave NOA state offices a new framework. Trafficking was framed as a gross violation of human dignity and national ethics. States were encouraged to adapt the Charter’s values of integrity, dignity and accountability into region-specific campaigns.
In Akwa Ibom, where trafficking has been on the rise through port and border communities, the NOA mobilised fishermen cooperatives and women’s groups in Eket and Oron to serve as first responders. In schools, students created posters bearing messages like: “You are not for sale. Your dream is not a trap.”
While hard data on reduced trafficking cases remains elusive, the awareness trend is undeniable. NOA field reports from Delta, Lagos, Ondo, and Edo indicate stronger community responsiveness; more calls to report suspicious agents, more churches and mosques requesting training and more young people asking critical questions.
The agency’s next in this direction is an expansion of its Community Action Against Trafficking (CAAT) toolkit, which was piloted in Edo and Ogun, to schools and faith groups across the South. Plans are underway to introduce edutainment content in Yoruba and Efik and to develop a mobile alert system for parents and youth at risk.
Human trafficking thrives in silence, secrecy, and desperation. NOA’s response since October 2023 has been slow, steady and deeply rooted in the power of information, culture and trust.
