Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, has called major stakeholders to work toward tackling increasing human trafficking in Sub-Sahara Africa.

The minister made the call when the Vice-Chairman, Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Shehu Sani, paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja, saying it was time for the Nigerian Government and other relevant stakeholders to join the West in mapping out strategies toward finding solution to the problem.

Onyeama stressed the need to sensitise the youth, who often fell victim of traffickers, to avoid such exploitation which put their lives at risk.

“The British Prime Minister, Teresa May, raised the issue of modern day slavery and human trafficking at a meeting with President Muhammad Buhari and some other heads of government.

“The meeting held on the sideline of the UN General Assembly held in the U.S. recently.

“A number of the heads of state there talked about what they were doing in their countries to address the situation, including the legal frameworks put in place, enforcement and policy initiatives.

President spoke about the root causes of the issue, which are security, economy, education among others.

The minister said it was about time Africans took control of their destiny, adding that there should be less emphasis on seeking solutions from the West.

He commended Sani for leading a fresh campaign aimed at sensitising the youth to be wary of traffickers, who were masters in the act of making fake promises of better opportunities in Europe.

Earlier, Sani expressed concern that many youths from Nigeria and other African countries had died in the course of illegally migrating to Europe for better opportunities.

He added that those who succeeded in getting to Europe were being enslaved by the traffickers or forced to join terrorist groups.

Sani, who said he had embarked on a campaign tagged, ‘The Pan-African Initiative against Illegal and Dangerous Migration’’, said he would stop at nothing to sensitise people to the risks involved.

“In the last few years, we have seen young people from our continent taking perilous journey through the Sahara Desert to the coastal states of Africa bothering the Mediterranean Sea.

“This is in an attempt to cross the sea to Europe, thereby putting their lives in danger and creating scenery in that part of the world.