An Official of National Agency for the Prohibition for Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) says the agency in 2016 rescued 459 persons against trafficking.
North West Zonal Commander, Mr Shehu Umar, told NAN, in Kano, on Tuesday, that out of the total number, 187 were Males while 272 were females.
According to him, the agency recorded 4 cases of kidnapping, 19 cases of child labour, and four cases of kidnapping and also arrested 83 suspects.
He added that there were 18 pending cases which were under investigation, noting that the command recorded 13 convictions.
The command revealed that it had engaged in public awareness creation in the year in order to notify and carry the public along as far trafficking was concerned.
Mr Umar highlighted the challenges faced by the command in 2016, saying that lack of funding was the major problem.
He then appealed to the Federal Government to release more fund to the agency in order to curb the menace of trafficking in the country.
Umar explained that stakeholders also have a key role to play in fighting trafficking. (NAN)