Crime

NAPTIP Secures Conviction over Child Trafficking

By Web News 132

By Oluwatoyin Adegoke

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, Ogun State Command, has secured the conviction of a 27-year-old man, Chukwuemeka Iheamama, for trafficking two minors for exploitation.

The Ogun State Commander of NAPTIP, Mrs Bose Jimoh, said the conviction was secured before the Federal High Court, Abeokuta Judicial Division, presided over by Justice A. A. Okeke.

Mrs Jimoh explained that officers of the Nigeria Police Force arrested the convict at Agbara in Ogun State while he was transporting two 15-year-old girls, identified as Bright Etu Edim and Mary Aniete Ekong, to Badagry for onward movement to Ghana for prostitution.

She said the police later transferred the case to the Ogun State Command of NAPTIP for further investigation and prosecution.

According to the NAPTIP Commander, prosecutors arraigned the defendant before the court on charges bordering on human trafficking offences contrary to Sections 13, 15(b) and 26(1) of the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act, 2015.

Mrs Jimoh added that the court found the defendant guilty on all counts and sentenced him to two years imprisonment with an option of a N250,000 fine on count one, five years imprisonment with an option of a N500,000 fine on count two and five years imprisonment on count three.

The court ordered that the sentences should run concurrently.

Edited by Maxwell Oyekunle

Follow us on Telegram and YouTube, and join our WhatsApp Update Group for more updates

Crime

Human Traffickers Now Use Social Media to Lure Victims – NAPTIP

By Web News 1490

By Oluwatoyin Adegoke

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, is raising the alarm over a dangerous new trend: traffickers are using social media and online job platforms to recruit Nigerians for exploitation.

Speaking on Radio Nigeria’s Paramount FM 94.5, NAPTIP’s Ogun State Commander, Mrs Bosede Jimoh, stated that these digital tactics are used to lure victims into forced labour, sexual exploitation, and organ harvesting.

In response, she explained that the agency has intensified its fight.

 “We have launched aggressive awareness campaigns in schools and communities,” Jimoh said.

The goal is to equip young people and parents with the knowledge to identify and resist suspicious online offers.

The Commander highlighted a major success: the Schools Anti-Trafficking Education and Advocacy Project (STEAP).

This initiative, which is funded by the Government of the Netherlands and implemented by the International Centre for Migration Policy Development in partnership with NAPTIP, has already sensitised over 21,000 students across 10 schools in Ogun State, with plans to reach 40 more.

Mrs Jimoh credited the federal government and inter-agency collaboration with the Police, NSCDC, DSS, and Immigration for enabling swift responses to trafficking cases.

She also confirmed that NAPTIP provides rescued victims with counselling, empowerment, and educational support, with some survivors even joining the agency’s workforce.

Subscribe to our Telegram and YouTube Channels, and also join our WhatsApp Update Group.

Security

We shall continue to tackle human trafficking vigorously – Humanitarian Minister

By Web News 807

The Honourable Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajia Sadiya Umar Farouk, has promised that the Federal Government of Nigeria will continue to provide the necessary support and resources to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) in a bid to adequately address the issue of human trafficking and other associated humanitarian crisis in the country.

The Minister stated this in her office while receiving the newly appointed Director General of NAPTIP, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim who was on a courtesy visit to the minister.

The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development is the supervising Ministry for the Agency.

It would be recalled that Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, has assumed duty as the new Director General of the Agency on December, 21st 2020.
The minister who described the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, as a foremost agency of government whose mandate is critical in mitigating human trafficking and all forms abuses across Nigeria, urged the Director General to build on the successes recorded by the agency in the past and ensure evidence based activities that will further increase the visibility of the agency.

While urging her to reach out to partners and other line ministries in order to secure full cooperation of the entire Nigeria, the Minister charged the NAPTIP boss to ensure that her programmes and activities clearly align with mandates of the ministry.

Earlier in her address, the NAPTIP Director General had reminded the minister that “NAPTIP is the creation of Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act (TIPPEA), 2015 as re-enacted, in response to addressing the scourge of trafficking in persons in Nigeria and its attendant human rights abuses in its entire ramification.”

“It is also a fulfillment of the federal government’s international obligation under the Trafficking in Persons Protocol supplementing the United Nations Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC)”

She promised that NAPTIP is fully committed to the prevention of all forms of human degradation and exploitation through the coordinated use of the nations crime prevention and law enforcement resources to stamp out human trafficking and to liberate and uplift the vulnerable, especially women, children and youths, from dehumanizing and exploitative employment and usage, with the deployment of the Five P Approach such as policy development, prevention, protection, prosecution, and partnering with stakeholders to ensure their rehabilitation and effective reintegration of victims into the society.

“However, the agency is inundated with challenges and draw backs that are hindering our growth and development. These challenges have affected the smooth running of our operations towards achieving our statutory mandate. Some of the challenges observed in the course of the review of reports from departments, units and zonal commands of the agency are largely administrative and operational. The agency requires adequate funding to effectively execute its day-to-day operational activities. More so, there is the need for vehicles for administrative and operational purposes. We are equally incapacitated in the areas of inadequate office structure, and funding for operations such as surveillance, raids operations, investigations, and activities leading to the prosecution of perpetrators of the Human Trafficking crime”, the NAPTIP boss said.

She however assured the minister of the determination of the agency to continue to fulfil her mandates.

The visit was the first courtesy visit embarked by the Director General since her assumption of office.

Adekoye Vincent
Press Officer

Crime

83 Person Rescued In 3 Years – NAPTIP DG

By Web News 708

Eighty-three persons have been rescued from trafficking in Ondo State in the last three years while three suspected traffickers are currently being prosecuted at various courts in the state.

The Director-General, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, Mrs Julie Okah-Donli made this known when she paid a visit to Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu in Akure.

Mrs Okah-Donli who is in Akure for the training of members of the NAPTIP taskforces against human trafficking in Ondo and Ekiti States said Ondo State was strategic in the fight against trafficking hence the plan by NAPTIP to establish a state command in Akure.

The NAPTIP Director General said the taskforces had been set up in fourteen states of the federation with the support of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Responding, Governor Akeredolu emphasized the need to re-orientate the youths in the country on the value of human dignity and pride.

The governor commended NAPTIP for its achievements so far, urging it to do more in rescuing youths from traffickers.

Leke Adegbite