…… IS PART OF 2022 WORLD DAY AGAINST HUMAN TRAFFICKING
….SAYS THE ORGANIZERS
The effort of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons
(NAPTIP) in tackling incidence of human trafficking received a major boost as a
consortium of development partners and other stakeholders has organized a boot
camp for members of State Task Forces on Human Trafficking from 9 states of the
Federation.
The development which is first of its kind came just as the Director General of
NAPTIP, Dr Fatima Waziri – Azi alerted of an increase in online human trafficking
activities and the preparedness of the Agency to step up its and nip such activities
in the bud.
It was a memorable programme as all the partners took turn one after the other
to pledge support to the Federal Government of Nigeria through NAPTIP in effort
to curb human trafficking in the Country.
In her speech, Director General of NAPTIP, Dr. Fatima Waziri – Azi said, Let me
commend the immense support of our collaborating partners – Expertise
France,UNODC,IOM, and FIIAPP, for supporting this novel initiative. This is one of
the collaborative activities that we felt we needed to undertake, as this provides
an avenue for us to collectively take a step back, assess the level and
effectiveness of the various task forces across the country, examine successes and
setbacks, in theory and in practice.
” This boot camp is aimed at strengthening partnership among states taskforce by
providing a veritable platform for information sharing and peer review on good
practices of the various activities in your respective States.
“Although trends and proportionality may differ, all states in Nigeria are currently
affected by human trafficking. According to NAPTIP statistics from 2019- 2022,
analysis shows that 61% of human trafficking in Nigeria happens internally (that is
within the state and across state lines) and 39% across our borders.
“Clearly, we have a national crisis on our hands which is why a forum such as this,
is a necessity for in-depth interactions among state and non-state actors on what
works and areas that require improvement in line with sub-objective 5.1.2 of the
National Action Plan on Human Trafficking in Nigeria (2022-2026).
“After the inauguration of the States Taskforce on human trafficking in 20 States
in collaboration with all our partners, with 2 more States scheduled in be
inaugurated in August, NAPTIP thought it needful to go deeper rather than wider,
take stock on the impact of the Taskforces at the subnational levels, especially in
endemic communities. From the analyses so far, some States have achieved
tremendous strides, especially in the area of awareness creation, identification,
rescue, referral and rehabilitation of trafficked persons.
“Similarly, in the area of enforcement, since NAPTIP is the focal Agency
empowered to prosecute all forms of human trafficking in Nigeria, the Agency has
enjoyed intelligence sharing and other supportive actions which accounts for
some key milestones recorded in the area of prosecution. So far the Agency has
recorded a total of 523 Convictions, 25 convictions and counting for 2022 (the
latest two convictions where secured in Katsina state). We still have 252 ongoing
cases in various courts in Nigeria”, the Director General said.
In his speech, the Country Representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs
and Crime (UNODC), Mr. Oliver Stolpe said “The principal purpose of this boot
camp, however, is to bring together the members of all the 21 state task forces on
human trafficking (Delta, Ondo, Lagos, Ekiti, Anambra, Ebonyi, Borno, Benue, Kano,
Edo, Ogun, Oyo, Enugu, Cross River, Akwa-Ibom, Nassarawa, Plateau, Kaduna,
Jigawa, Rivers and Katsina) with the leadership of NAPTIP, relevant NGOs active in
the fight against trafficking and international development partners for all of us to
engage in a peer-to-peer exchange of experiences and joint learning exercise.
“ We hope that hereby we will strengthen our collective capacity to, Identify
victims, recruiters and traffickers alike, Learn more about the tricks of the
traffickers – how they select their victims, how they lure them in, and the various
methods and forms of creating and sustaining the exploitative relationships”
“We will also work together in enhancing our capability to collect and share
intelligence with each other and develop “protocols for action”.
“Finally, we intend to use this opportunity to engage collectively in trend analysis
with a view to allowing us to become more skillful as well as pro-active in
identifying new trends, adjusting our responses both in terms of intelligence
gathering as well as in raising awareness among potential victims, friends and
families, traditional ruler, community leaders and religious leaders, teachers and
social workers, as well as the public at large”, Mr. Oliver Stolpe said.
Speaking also, Project Manager of the Expartise France, Mr. Benjamin Eneanya,
said, “The State Taskforces as a strategy to combat human trafficking brings
together Government, Law Enforcement, Government Agencies and CSO’s at
state level with coordination from NAPTIP as well as support from International
Partners. This is a clear example of whole of Government and whole of society
collaboration in addressing a common problem.
“The first state taskforce was set up by the Edo State government in 2017 and
subsequently NAPTIP with the help of International Donor Organization have
established about 20 other State Taskforces, thereafter.
“I must commend NAPTIP for this initiative and I hope that sooner than later all
states of the Federation will have a State Taskforce to ensure effective
coordination in the fight against human trafficking. I wish to thank the European
Union, our donor which is in the front line in the fight against human trafficking.
“Human trafficking is unfortunately a sad reality in this world, but with the sincere
commitment as shown by the International community and national partners in
making this state taskforce peer review a reality I believe we shall win the battle
and protect our citizens from slavery, human trafficking slavery.
Representative of the Team Leader of FIIAPP, Mr. Jose Nsang listed some of the
interventions of FIIAPP to include Review of National Policy on Protection and
Assistance to Trafficked Persons, Research on Trends, Magnitude and Patterns of
TIPSOM in Nigeria conducted, Sensitization of key figures in border communities,
Reconditioning of Shelters across the country, Development of SOP on SOM,
Supply of Intelligence Gathering Equipment to Project Beneficiaries, Hosting of
Judges’ Conference 2022 Establishment of WACTIPSOM, Return of 15 Nigerian
girls stranded in Mali and Hosting of 2021 National Migration Dialogue.
He said. “I do celebrate our long list of achievements, and I celebrate specially the
State Taskforces, as this is what brought us here today. But what I celebrate
more, and I am excited about it, is what I expect we are going to do here in the
next 5 days: Coordination and Harmonisation.
“The 4 Implementing Partners executing the 6 projects under which we have
supported NAPTIP in inaugurating these State Taskforces, Together with NAPTIP
and the States, during 5 days, we are going to be discussing and agreeing on how
to do State Taskforces, where to do it, who, what … and this is key if we want
those already inaugurated to be effective and sustainable and if we want NAPTIP
to do more and succeed.
“I cannot overemphasize more the importance of this, especially as I expect – I
better say I wish- three more things to happen: I expect that all the issues to
operationalize the already inaugurated State Taskforces will be properly
addressed, and necessary actions will be taken as a result of this Bootcamp”, Mr
Nsang said.
Representative of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Ms Bertha
Nvugulu said, “Coordination create a strategic, coordinated and collaborate
framework for a more effective response to TIP and helps stakeholders to bring
their expertise together to prevent, identify and protect the victim’s, investigate,
and prosecute the perpetrators and facilitate for sustainable solutions.
“In the spirit of delivering as one UN and in close coordination with NAPTIP, IOM
has supported the establishment and strengthening of 15 State Task Forces Task
across the country. The support includes inauguration of the Task Forces, capacity
building (Training and technical support for hosting of coordination meetings).
“Task Forces create an environment in which agencies learn the roles and
capacities of other agencies and help to leverage resources. Task Forces provide
an opportunity for joint training, create agency buy in and promote dissemination
of unified messages to the communities. Operationalization of the task force is
key and demands effective leadership and a unified commitment from all
stakeholders.
“We pledge our continued support to migration governance and counter
trafficking efforts to the federal and State Government and would like to reiterate
our continued partnership for facilitating humane and orderly migration for the
benefit of all”. IOM Rep said.
Dignitaries at the programme include Chief Deborah Chinwe Oba, Honourable
Commissioner for Women Affairs, Ebonyi State, Former Executive Secretary of
NAPTIP and Solicitor General of Benue State, Mr. Simon Chuzi Egede, Solicitor
General and Permanent Secretary, ministry of Justice, Kastina State, Mr. Hassan
Yusuf, National President of NACTAL, Mr. Abdulganiyu Abubakar, Zonal
Commanders from Kano, Oshogbo, Benin, Lagos, Benue, Representatives of Ekiti,
Ondo, Edo, Ebonyi, Benue, Delta, Kano and Anambra States.
The programme is supported by the Kingdom of Netherlands, the United States
International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, the European Union and
Switzerland Government.
Adekoye Vincent
Press Officer, NAPTIP
19th July 2022.
