Lawmaker calls for increased funding for NAPTIP, reunites repatriated girl from Oman with family

The House of Representatives member from Oluyole Federal Constituency, Tolulope Akande-Sadipe has called for increased funding for the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), as she reunited an indigene of Oyo State and a member of her constituency, repatriated from Oman, Adunni Nafisat Oseni, who was denied the opportunity to return home by her employers until the lawmaker intervened with her family. 

Akande-Sadipe, who chairs the House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora, who said the affected person was repatriated to the country through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, willingly submitted herself to be repatriated back to Nigeria due to the inhumane situation she and many others were subjected to in Oman. 

Akande-Sadipe decried the inhumane treatment being meted on Nigerians in some Arab countries and commended NAPTIP for its good work and synergy with relevant agencies while she called for more funding for NAPTIP to carry out its fight against human trafficking in the country. 

“As it stands today, we have over 20,000 Nigerian girls living in tents in Mali, an African country. Over 40,000 girls are in Lebanon”, she said, pledging that the ninth Assembly’s commitment to a total fight against human trafficking offenders in the nation by enacting stricter laws against them.

“We have a responsive ninth Assembly, under Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila which is putting in place the right laws that would guide against these incessant occurrences,” Akande-Sadipe said. 

She, however, noted that relevant agencies in collaboration with the Nigeria Police must press charges against traffickers. This, she said, will deter others. 

Speaking on the delay of 35 Nigerians at the Ghanaian border, she said the proper arm of the executive has picked up the responsibility and called for further collaboration among all relevant Government in rehabilitating the girls, who she noted left the country for socio-economic reasons. 

“The ugly situation in the country led Nigerians to these unsafe countries in search for greener pastures. However, they became victims and targets of attack in those countries that Nigeria has no bilateral relationship with. This made them to come back home, most times, with nothing,” she decried. 

On the Ministry of Labour’s role, she noted that the ministry’s lackadaisical attitude needs to be addressed, adding that “the ministry needs to take charge of its responsibilities and functions in ensuring they check if Nigeria has bilateral relationships with some of the countries Nigerians are being trafficked. We should start from there first,” she said. 

She also noted that some of the agents who traffick girls to Arab countries and neighbouring African countries have no license from the Ministry of Labour. Therefore, there are certain actions the ministry needs to work on to nip this ugly act on the bud. 

Akande-Sadipe assured Nigerians that the returnee was properly screened by security agencies and health institutions to ascertain her status before being released into the society. 

Speaking on the development, the Comptroller, Nigeria Immigration Service, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Mr Abdulahi Usman, pleaded with Nigerians not to travel without proper guidance, noting that Adunni’s case is one out of many cases of deception. 

Recalling her ordeal in Oman, Adunni called on girls and young people not to rush out of the country in search of greener pastures without proper scrutiny of the agent involved.

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