THE Director-General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, Dame Julie Okah-Donli, has warned Nigerians to be wary of the antics of human traffickers who use the opportunity of the Yuletide to lure victims into a life of slavery.
Okah-Donli, made this remark while reacting to the news of the conviction of a human trafficker by a State High Court sitting in Enugu. The conviction coincided with the 2018 International Migrants’ Day.
This was contained in a statement by the Press and Public Relations Unit, Mrs Nneka Aniagoh, on Monday in Abuja.
The convict, Odinkenma Promise Adumike, from Enugu state, was arrested and charged by NAPTIP on a two-count charge of organising foreign travel which promotes prostitution, contrary to sections 15 and 18 of the Trafficking In Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act, 2015.
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She was accused of trafficking an eighteen-year-old girl, also from Enugu State, to Libya for sexual exploitation.
The presiding Judge, Honourable Justice C.C. Ani, having listened to the counsels and the evidence tendered, found the accused guilty, and sentenced her to seven years imprisonment and a fine of one million naira.
The NAPTIP boss enjoined Nigerian youths to shun the entreaties of human traffickers and migrants smugglers who come back at the end of the year to flaunt their ill-gotten wealth, to entice victims.
According to her, “for one human trafficker, there are tens to hundreds of victims living in exploitative situations”.
She further called on parents not to be deceived by offers to take their children to the cities or abroad without legal travel documents, by migrants’ smugglers, as such journeys often end up in tales of woes.
Dame Julie Okah-Donli used the opportunity of the 2018 International Migrants’ Day to urge Nigerian Youths to key into the empowerment schemes already put in place by the Federal Government, in order to avoid illegal migration and the accompanying tales of sorrow.
She called on world leaders and governments of various countries to treat migrants with respect and dignity, bearing in mind that migration is a natural phenomenon and a driver of economic activities.
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