We operate in accordance with international standards — NAPTIP

THE director-general of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Dame Julie Okah-Donli, has said that the agency operates and handlers rescued victims in accordance with international standards.

She faulted the Human Rights Watch report  on survivors of trafficking which was released recently, saying that the report was far from the truth and a figment of the imagination of the writers.

The Human Rights Watch had in the 90-page report entitled: You Pray for Death Trafficking of Women and Girls in Nigeria; Nigeria: Continuing Anguish for Trafficking Survivors, End Detention in Shelters, Provide More Support,  accused the Federal Government of not living up to its responsibility of providing assistance to survivors for proper reintegration into the society.

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But in a reaction to this, Okah-Donli  described the report as unfounded, saying the narratives in the said report fell below standards in the operations of its shelters.

She said: “After going through the report, we are bold to say that the entire report is a mere figment of the imagination of the writers as the narratives fall below the standards in the operations of our shelters as well as the standards for our victims’ support and assistance.”

She argued that the agency had continued to observe international standards in the handling of victims in line with the Palermo Protocol which states that no victim shall be kept in a shelter against his or her will.

“The activities in our shelters are further guided by the National Policy on Protection and Assistance to Trafficked Persons in Nigeria, a national document that has also been adopted by Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in dealing with victims of human trafficking,” she said.

Okah-Donli explained that there are shelters where victims are given protection and assistance for a short while before being moved to open shelters for rehabilitation purpose.

She said: “NAPTIP shelters are no doubt closed shelters where victims are given protection and assistance for a short while before being moved to open shelters; so, they can move about for their rehabilitation programmes, which include going to school or learning a trade based on their preferences.

“The shelter is not a detention camp; it does not look like one and can be accessed and assessed.

“It may interest you to note that when victims are rescued from their exploiters or repatriated from abroad, their traffickers, in order to avoid justice, go in search of them to harm them or stop them from exposing what they had gone through.

“Under that circumstance, the victim needs protection to save his/her life. Some of the victims equally do not want to be reunited with their families as their family members were part of the trafficking arrangement in the first instance and reuniting them, therefore, amounts to further endangering their lives.

“Similarly, many of the victims as traumatised as they are have all manner of health conditions that the agency takes measures to deal with before allowing them back into the society.

“It is equally wrong to say that the victims are not given access to their family members through personal contacts or through telephone conversations. Whenever they want to speak to their families or see them within the very short period of their stay there, they are allowed.

“However, the personal contact is made at any of the agency’s offices and not at the shelter as it would be dangerous to allow everyone have knowledge of the location of the shelter considering the general security situation of the country and the desperation of criminals to destroy evidence of their crime. On telephone contacts, it is made from the shelter whenever the victim is desirous of speaking to family members.”

“The Federal Government of Nigeria through NAPTIP spends a lot of money in keeping victims safe and providing adequately for their welfare in our shelters.

“The agency goes ahead to provide education and job opportunities for victims. Just recently,  four of such victims who  graduated from tertiary institutions under the sponsorship of the agency, have been employed as officers of the agency. What else can be better than that?

“The Human Rights Watch report mentioned some unnamed officials of the agency as well as unidentified victims whom they claimed they spoke with but they never spoke to any authorized person,” she said.