Austrian Embassy, MeCAHT Partner to Curb Local Human Trafficking

Austrian Embassy, MeCAHT Partner to Curb Local Human Trafficking

JOEL OLADELE, Abuja

The Austrian Embassy and the Media Coalition and Awareness to Halt Trafficking (MeCAHT) have strengthened their collaboration to curb the rising cases of local human trafficking in Nigeria, highlighting the urgent need to address exploitation occurring within families and communities.

The renewed call for action came during the screening of short films produced by survivors under a MeCAHT empowerment project supported by the Austrian Embassy.

The concern aligns with a recent warning from the Director-General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Binta Adamu Bello, who noted that victims are trafficked daily from rural communities into urban centres and across borders for sexual exploitation, hazardous labour, and forced recruitment into terrorism and armed conflict.

Austrian Ambassador to Nigeria, Peter Guschelbauer, said Austria’s support for the initiative was designed to place survivors at the forefront of anti-trafficking advocacy. He noted that the project aligns with the ongoing 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence and Austria’s long-standing partnership with MeCAHT.

According to him, the films broaden public understanding of human trafficking by spotlighting exploitation that takes place locally but is often overlooked.

He said the testimonies captured in the films reflect the hidden reality of internal trafficking in Nigeria, which frequently occurs within homes and neighbourhoods. He added that the films would be deployed in schools and communities to strengthen prevention efforts.

“From a European perspective, we are often focused on the transnational trafficking aspects, of course, and the exploitation of vulnerable people in Europe.

“Here, we want to highlight other additional realities, like for example, internal trafficking, which is prevalent in Nigeria, and that it often occurs within family or community settings. We should broaden our understanding and reinforce the need for localized awareness efforts,” Guschelbauer stated.

The ambassador recalled Austria’s long-standing commitment to combating trafficking, including the establishment of a national task force in 2004 and the annual EU Anti-Trafficking Day conference.

MeCAHT Executive Director, James Ikape, said the organisation was founded by Nigerians determined to tackle trafficking by empowering survivors and rebuilding communities.

He said the new project, Beyond Care: Supporting Survivors of Human Trafficking, was developed to deepen empowerment by training survivors to create videos, tell their stories, and promote their small businesses.

He explained that while survivors in safe houses typically learn vocational skills such as tailoring and hairdressing, digital storytelling provides an additional tool for healing, confidence, and advocacy.

“So what we are doing is we brought together Survivors of Human Trafficking, a small number, yes, but a huge impact, for a period of three weeks. During this time, they learned how to make videos from this work.

“We also intend to create awareness using the materials from this initiative within Abuja. For this phase, we intend to create awareness amongst 2,000 people that we intend to scale up in the coming years.

“We also set out to establish clubs in five schools within Abuja, which we’ve also been able to do. In the next phase, we’ll show that we’ll definitely scale up that as well,” Ikape said.

He stressed that addressing trans-border trafficking will be impossible without confronting internal trafficking at the community level. Ikape added that MeCAHT plans to scale up the initiative in 2026, using the films as long-term advocacy tools.

The highlight of the event was the presentation of awards to the winning film and the runner-up.

MeCAHT, a media-driven coalition, works to reduce human trafficking among vulnerable groups in Nigeria, South Africa and Europe.