NAPTIP wants personnel in airports to stop human trafficking
NAN-H-66
Airports
By Mustapha Sumaila
Abuja, May 24, 2017 (NAN) Mrs Julie Okah-Donli, the Director-General of National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking In Persons (NAPTIP), on Wednesday appealed to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to allow the agency’s personnel in all international airports to conduct their duties.
Okah-Donli made the call when she received a team from FAAN, led by the authority’s Secretary/Legal Adviser, Mr Clifford Omozeghian, who paid her a courtesy call in Abuja.
She said that for a more robust partnership between the two agencies of the government, NAPTIP officials must be at airports to checkmate activities of human traffickers as some of them used airports as route to transport victims to foreign lands.
“I want a renewed partnership between the agency and FAAN to further smoothen the operations of NAPTIP officials at the various airports in the country.
“I am appealing to FAAN to kindly provide the agency with all necessary assistance to enable the personnel operate at maximum capacity, in collaboration with other law enforcement agencies already working at the airports,” she said.
According to her, NAPTIP officials have been trained and possessed the requisite knowledge to identify potential victims of human trafficking as well as single out suspects from the passengers at the airports.
The director-general added that it was imperative that the agency’s operatives are granted necessary access in line with FAAN’s guidelines.
Meanwhile, Okah-Donli had announced that Nigeria would soon return to the “Tier One’’ status on the United States of America’s rating of countries compliance to the minimum standards in the fight against human trafficking.
She disclosed that Nigeria, which is now on tier two, lost her tier one position in 2012 based on a number of issues including the insurgency in the country as well as the non-compliance by some state actors in proper supervision of various sites where children were found as workers.
She said: “Returning Nigeria to the Tier one position of the trafficking in persons ranking is a top priority of my administration in NAPTIP and we are doing everything possible to return Nigeria to where she belongs.
“Nigeria has paid her dues in the fight against human trafficking and therefore, has no business remaining on Tier two.”
She stated that all hands must be on deck to support NAPTIP in this task as getting to that enviable position which she described as a task for everybody.
She disclosed that she was already leading the agency to various strategic meetings that would turn around the present situation.
Earlier in his remarks, the FAAN Legal Adviser congratulated the NAPTIP boss on her appointment and expressed optimism that the agency would bounce back under her leadership.
He noted that NAPTIP has made giant strides in line with its objectives towards the eradication of human trafficking in Nigeria.
According to him, the organisation’s desire to strengthen the partnership between NAPTIP and FAAN in combating human trafficking in Nigeria was a welcome development.
He urged the NAPTIP boss to take all necessary steps to actualise the partnership and protect the rights of all persons at risk of human trafficking, arrest and prosecute offenders. (NAN)
MS/MST
Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola