The National Agency for the
Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP and the Nigeria Immigrations
Services (NIS) are to scale up intelligence sharing and joint border operations
across the country as part of a coordinated plan to effectively prevent human
trafficking and smuggling of migrants from Nigeria.
This was one of the agreements
reached by the two organisations when the Director-General of NAPTIP, Julie
Okah-Donli and the Management of the Agency made a working visit to the
Headquarters of the NIS in Abuja.
This is coming just as the NAPTIP
boss called on the NIS and other organisations involved in the reception of repatriated
Nigerians at various Airports in Nigeria to make the reception and profiling of
the returnees stress free in order to reduce the level of trauma suffered by the
Nigerian returnees each time there was a repatriation operations.
Arising from her presentation during
the visit, the two organisations agreed on the need to collaborate more in the
fight against human trafficking and smuggling of migrants.
In her speech, Okah-Donli recalled
the existing relationship between the two organisations and stressed that the
NIS remained a formidable partner whose assistance in the past had helped to
ensure smooth operations of the Agency.
She said,
‘’there is no doubt that the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking
in Persons (NAPTIP) and the NIS are like Siemese twins whose roles in the fight
against irregular migration especially trafficking in persons are quite germane
in the development of our dear country. Our relationship has blossomed over the
years and we must do everything to ensure that it conforms with the good
practices needed for quality service delivery to Nigerians and also to help
Government achieve its dreams for the people.... We cherish this relationship and are ready to do
everything within our limits to make it more robust for the benefit of our
future which the young people who are presently being enslaved by criminal
elements represent.
On
the re-invigorated activities of the Agency, Okah-Donli said, ‘’ We
have taken measures to improve on our investigation activities by making it
more intelligence driven and proactive. The days of sitting in the office and
waiting for petitions, reports, complaints and transferred cases before we act
are over. We have also improved on our surveillance operations and making sure
that those involved are actually engaged in that assignment and nothing else.
‘’Based on these reforms in operations, we crave
the indulgence of the CGI and the NIS generally to join us in making our plans
worth the while. This can be done through more diligent operations of officers
and men of the Service manning the entry points. We have always relied on the
NIS to rescue victims and arrest traffickers at those entry points and transfer
to us to deal further.
‘’I must commend you for your efforts so far.
However, we will appreciate it if these activities could be improved upon.
There have been cases where only victims were transferred to us without the
suspects and in some cases, the information one gets is that the suspects were
also arrested but released. This does not only anger the rescued victims whom
the suspects may have defrauded in one way or the other, it does not help our
operations neither does it help the Criminal Justice system in Nigeria. In this
situation, we end up spending our very lean resources on the victims without a
case to pursue. I plead that the Service helps us to ensure that suspect
accompany rescued victims each time a transfer of cases is being made.
On operations at the international Airport when
repatriated Nigerians are returning and the need to improve on the reception,
the NAPTIP boss said ‘’these are people who have travelled for long hours and
happy that they have stepped into their father land but the reception they get
leaves much to be desired and what follows is another unforgettable nightmare.
I will suggest that we improve on such receptions and make it more relaxing for
them as some of them are victims and the reception the get here affects our
rating in the international community. We should have more officers and desks
involved in such operations so that the profiling could be faster without much
stress on the officers on duty and the returnees’’.
In his response, the Comptroller-General of the
NIS, Mr. Muhammad Babandede who commended the NAPTIP boss for the strategic actions
so far taken to re-invigorate the operations of the Agency, described NAPTIP as
a vital partner to the NIS, adding that the two organisations must work
together to raise the stake in the fight against human trafficking and smuggling
of migrants in Nigeria.
He pointed out that the era of rivalry amongst
Agencies of government for the purpose of gaining popularity was over, adding
that there was the need to work together and promote better service delivery in
the country.
While assuring the Agency of prompt intelligence
sharing and joint coordinated operations with the NIS especially in the area of
rescue of victims and arrest of suspects, Babandede promised to avail the
Agency of vital information on any suspected trafficker as contained in the NIS
information data.
He also promised to halt further parade of victims
of human trafficking before the media by NIS Commands in order to protect the
dignity of the victims and in line with international statutes.
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