FG seeks arrest, prosecution of foreign-based trafficking barons

THE Federal Government has intensified the fight against human trafficking, calling for the arrest and prosecution of foreign-based trafficking barons in Europe and other destination countries.

Director-General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, (NAPTIP), Julie Okah-Donli, has accordingly said the activities of the foreign-based human trafficking rings and mafia had constituted major threat to the global anti-human trafficking efforts.

She specifically tasked members of the European Union and other international organisations to provide useful intelligence on the operations base and location of the human trafficking “lords” for the purpose of bursting their rings and making them to face the law.

Okah-Donli, spoke when she received a delegation from the Spanish embassy who were at the NAPTIP headquarters, Abuja, to brief the management on the scope and the implementation strategy of the 11th European Development Fund project. (EDF). The team was led by Mr. Raphael Mouib.

The director-general also gave the same message when she received the Director, Migration Dialogues and cooperation of the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) Martijn Pluim.

She also met with the Police Attaches of the Embassies of Germany, Mr. Muller and theEmbassy of the Netherlands, Captain Bert Kiburg.

It will be recalled that the NAPTIP Director-General had, on assumption of office, declared total war on human traffickers saying that the Agency would do everything possible to protect Nigerian youths and secure their future from heartless traffickers.

Okah-Donli, told the visiting envoys that blowing the lead off the European-based human trafficking barons who had continuously mounted pressure on their home-based pimps for massive recruitment of victims would be a major boost to the current onslaught on human traffickers.

According to her, “the arrest and prosecution of those human traffickers that are based in any of the European countries is very crucial to our latest efforts to end human trafficking in Nigeria.

“We are imploring you to join hands with the Government of Nigeria and precisely NAPTIP in the area of intelligence sharing aimed at exposing those foreign based human trafficking “madams  who are believed to be behind the exploitation of our youths.

“We want them to be exposed and made to face the wrath of the law. This is one of the ways of ensuring success of the latest fight against human trafficking the NAPTIP boss said.

While assuring the donors of NAPTIP continued cooperation and unhindered assistance towards human trafficking related projects, the NAPTIP boss disclosed that the Agency was in the process of developing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that will clearly spell out the procedure for the implementation of a Spanish sponsored project.

Earlier in his presentation, leader of the visiting envoys, Mr. Raphael Mouib, had informed the NAPTIP management of plans to commence the implementation of the 11th European Development Fund (EDF) project which was designed to address some of the human trafficking issues in the country.

The main objective of the project is to reduce trafficking in persons (TIP) and smuggling of migrants (SOM) at national and regional level, and between Nigeria and the European Union (EU) continues with specific emphasis on women and children.

The various component of the project which would be managed by the International and Iberoamericana Foundation for Administration of Public Policies (FIIAPP) include capacity building for Officers of the Agency in the areas of investigation and prosecution as well as awareness creation.