Director General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Dr. Fatima Waziri Azi, on Friday received the Ambassador of Denmark in Nigeria, His Excellency Sune Krogstrup who visited the Headquarters of the Agency in Abuja.
The visit centered on issues relating to human trafficking, migration trends and other contemporary migration issues globally as it relates to Nigeria and Africa
In her speech, the Director General gave an overview of the establishment, mandates and the national spread of the Agency which is anchored on the diligent application of the 5 Ps strategies namely the Prevention, Partnership, Policy, Protection and Prosecution. She said NAPTIP has presence in 21 States with 9 Zonal Commands, 10 States commands and 8 Liaison Offices in addition to 360 bedded 10 Shelters across the Country.
She told the visiting Danish Envoy that as part of the Counter Trafficking measure aimed at bringing the activities of the Agency to the State and Grassroots level, the Agency established 20 State Task Forces on Human Trafficking and that in 2015, the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Law (VAPP) being administered by the Agency, has further added additional responsibilities to NAPTIP. Dr Fatima Waziri – Azi, disclosed that even though there is the need to up the activities of the Agency especially in the area of prosecution, the Agency has recorded a total of 500 convictions since inception with 261 ongoing cases in various Courts across the Country.
The NAPTIP Director General also unveiled her 4 points priority focus which are identification, arrest and prosecution of High Profile Human Traffickers in order to deter others and reduce impunity, Enhanced Evidence Based – Rehabilitation, Reintegration and Empowerment of Trafficked Victims with long time mentoring, Enhanced Awareness Creation and Sensitization and lastly Increased visibility for the Agency and its Partners.
The DG told the Ambassador on the rehabilitation effort of the Agency noting that with the support of partners, NAPTIP has sponsored a total of 16 Victims out of high Institutions with 3 of them already employed into the Service of the Agency.
She alerted the Visiting Danish Ambassador on some emerging issues in human trafficking and Migration with emphasis on the upsurge in illicit trade of organ removal and the wrong narratives that surround the booming dark trade.
Dr. Fatima called for a concerted effort in carrying out research on the prevalence of organ harvesting, the existing misconception with a view to arriving at the best sensitization message to counter the growing phenomenon.
She also pointed out emerging trafficking and migration route of Mauritanian which according to her poses another danger to victims because the route and transit points are being controlled by the locals whose main interest is to exploit and defraud susceptible victims even at their own detriment.
The Director General highlighted some of the efforts of the Agency to include the resuscitation of the weekly enlightenment programme tagged “NAPTIP ON THE MOVE” on the Nigeria Television Authority Channels every Friday at 7.30 pm, the launch of the VAAP Implementation Report, the Development of Gender Policy, enhanced collaboration with partners, evacuation of some stranded trafficked victims which included the 15 victims billed to arrive Nigeria on Sunday 20th February 2022 from Mali among others.
She called for the sustained support of the Danish Government in all areas of the operation of the Agency.
In his response, the Danish Ambassador, His Excellency, Sune Krogstrup who was adequately informed on the activities of the Agency thanked the Director General for unveiling the huge mandates and activities of the Agency and called for more discussion and collaboration in the periods ahead.