THE operatives of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) are to work at the Heathrow and Gatwick Airports in London in a joint operation with the security authorities of the United Kingdom.
Head, Press and Public Relations, NAPTIP, Mr Josiah Emerole, who made this known on Monday in an electronic statement, said the agency’s operatives would be deployed on the joint operation which would be for a short period of time in line with the renewed commitment of NAPTIP to wage relentless war on traffickers at all front.
He explained that the operatives of NAPTIP would work side-by-side with the UK Border Force and other relevant Agencies at the two gateways into the United Kingdom. UK is one of the human trafficking destination countries among others in Europe.
Emerole, said this was the outcome of some high level meetings in London between the Director-General of NAPTIP, Julie Okah-Donli and officials of the Home Office of the United Kingdom.
He said as part of Okah-Donli, partnership drive and in furtherance of her vision towards making NAPTIP a big player in counter trafficking initiatives across the globe, the Director-General has been engaging various partners within and outside Nigeria, seeking ways of further improving the operations of the Agency and the early rescue of Nigerian Potential Victims of Trafficking (PVoTs) from their captors.
During her meeting with the officials of the Home Office in London, the authorities approved the joint operations at the two airports aimed at randomly profiling passengers with a view to identifying potential victims of trafficking and suspected traffickers.
Emerole, said this milestone would improve mutual sharing of experience, intelligence and expertise between Nigeria and the United Kingdom based on the fact that Nigerian PVoTs could be better identified by Nigerians after thorough assessment of indicators of trafficking.
At the various meetings held at the Home Office, the Director-General engaged with the Senior Officials of the Home Office led by the Manager, Dave Pennant; Investigation and Prosecution team, officials of the UK National Crime Agency (NCA) Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Unit Team, officials of the Modern Slavery Unit, Immigrations, and the UK Border Force.
The statement said the issues addressed at these meetings included illegal migration, victims care, and prosecution of trafficking suspects.
Okah-Donli, in her presentation, spoke on the need for better collaboration by various countries and the urgent need for joint operations in the fight against human trafficking and illegal migration.
She also emphasised the need to involve operatives of NAPTIP who have also been trained by the UK authorities to jointly work with the UK Border Force at the two Airports.
Commending the UK authorities for the gesture, Okah-Donli said she would ensure that the operation yields the desired results which would market such collaborative effort to other partnering countries.
She, however, warned traffickers and their collaborators to look for better businesses outside of trafficking, stressing, “If we miss you here in Nigeria at departure, we will not miss you as you arrive your destination”.
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