Today, Meta announced the launch of
the AMBER Alert Programme on Facebook and Instagram in Nigeria. Working in
partnership with the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in
Persons (NAPTIP), this programme is aimed at helping to find abducted children
by sending AMBER Alerts to the local Facebook and Instagram community in
Nigeria.
AMBER Alert is designed to increase
the chances of finding missing children by putting more people on the lookout
for them. When an AMBER Alert is activated by law enforcement, the alert will
appear on the Facebook and Instagram Feed of users within the designated search
area, enabling them to share the information instantly with friends or contact
the authorities if they have leads.
AMBER Alert is designed to include
important information about the missing child such as a photo description,
location of the abduction, and other relevant and available information to aid
in immediately identifying the missing child.
Emily Vacher, Meta’s Director of
Trust and Safety, said: “Already
available across 28 countries globally, we are proud to partner with NAPTIP to
make AMBER Alert available in Nigeria – the second African country to join this
programme. When there is a reported case of a missing child, the most valuable
thing one can do is share information as quickly as possible. By working with
law enforcement in helping to share the right information with the right
people, we hope that missing children will be safely reunited with their
families faster.”
In emphasising the importance of
this launch, Adaora Ikenze, Meta’s Head of Public Policy, Anglophone West
Africa, said: “This partnership with
NAPTIP is another important milestone in reinforcing our ongoing commitment to
Nigeria. We know our apps can be used as a force for good, and the AMBER Alert
launch across Instagram and Facebook highlights this.”
How AMBER Alert Works
The decision to declare an AMBER Alert is made by NAPTIP when
investigating a suspected abduction case, they must first determine if the case
meets their Amber Alert criteria, which includes:
●
The abduction is of a child age 17 or younger
●
NAPTIP must have reasonable belief that there has been an
abduction.
●
NAPTIP believes the victim is in imminent danger of serious bodily
harm or exploitation.
●
There is enough descriptive information about the victim and
suspected abduction for law enforcement to issue an AMBER Alert to assist in
recovering the child
Once these criterias have been met, NAPTIP
will then notify Meta’s Global Security Operations Centre, which operates 24/7,
that a verified AMBER Alert is active. Meta will then send the alert to the
News Feeds of people located in targeted search areas in Nigeria.
Dr. Fatima Waziri-Azi, the Director General of
NAPTIP also said, “Today we are partnering with Meta to launch the AMBER Alert Programme
on Facebook and Instagram to help ensure faster response in finding missing
children. With these alerts, more people can be on the lookout for kids
reported missing in their vicinity and report all leads to relevant authorities.
NAPTIP cherishes every aspect of the intending collaboration and we are indeed
glad to be on board with Meta”.
AMBER Alert Programme launched on
Facebook in 2015 and since then has assisted in hundreds of successful child
endangerment cases in the US and around the world.
One
of such cases happened in 2020 when Amanda Disley and her husband helped rescue
11-year-old Charlotte Moccia of Springfield, Massachusetts, after seeing an
AMBER Alert on Facebook. Before that, a four-year-old girl was recovered after
Kaytlin Brown saw an AMBER Alert issued on Facebook on her lunch break and
quickly took action.
In June 2022, Meta added Instagram
to the AMBER Alerts Programme across the world by making it available in 28
additional countries, and now, in Nigeria. As part of the launch of AMBER
Alerts in Nigeria, Meta and NAPTIP will be educating users in Nigeria on how to
identify AMBER Alerts on their feed and what to do when they see an alert.
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