By Felicia Imohimi
Abuja – The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has identified international cooperation and coordination as key to the eradication of human trafficking.
The Director-General of NAPTIP, Julie Okah-Donli, spoke at a meeting with some Embassy Police and Immigration Liaison Officers on Tuesday in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 18 embassies were present at the meeting including U.S, Ukraine, Burkina Faso, Italy, Russian, Finland, UK and France.
Okah-Donli identified human trafficking as an irregular migration that required international, bilateral and multilateral cooperation to effectively eradicate it.
The meeting, according to her, was predicated upon the agency’s mandate to strengthen cooperation and partnership, consistently share information and intelligence with the law enforcement and security agencies, international authorities, embassies, among others.
Okah-Donli, while commending the collaborative efforts of various embassies in the fight against the trafficking, said that no agency or country has the capacity to eradicate the menace.
“We all must, therefore, synergies and reinforce our collaborative strength, review our weaknesses and take advantage of the opportunities we have to confront the common threats,’’ she said.
The director-general said that since inception of the agency in 2003, it has taken bold steps in pursuing counter-trafficking measures centered on prevention, protection, prosecution, partnership and policy approach.
“The approach informed the creation of Intelligence and International Cooperation Unit in 2011 for effective coordination of intelligence gathering and dissemination and fostering international cooperation with partners to stamp out the menace of trafficking.
“The agency, since inception in 2003, has taken bold steps in vigorously pursuing counter-trafficking measures on Five `Ps` approach of Prevention, Protection, Prosecution, Partnership and Policy.
“It also coordinates state and non-state actors’ response to trafficking in persons.
“Its Intelligence and International Cooperation Unit created in 2011 was aimed at effective coordination of intelligence gathering and dissemination and fostering international cooperation with partners and interfacing with embassies to stamp out the menace,’’ Okah-Donli said.
NAPTIP chief identified some of the challenges in the fight against trafficking as inadequate fund and reintegration of victims.
She urged all embassies to come to the agency’s aid in reintegrating the victims in their various countries by creating jobs to enable them to earn a living.
Okah-Donli said that such efforts would make them to return to normalcy and further deter them from being a trafficker.
She further urged them to focus more attention on the travelling agents, saying that most of them were aiding human trafficking.
Okah-Donli, who identified Burkina Faso as huge destination country in human trafficking, said that the agency was committed to deploy its workers on fact findings to curb the menace.
Also, Mr Jarno Polonen, the Immigration Liaison Officer, Embassy of Finland, identified lack of adequate and vital information as one of the challenges hindering the fight against human trafficking.
Polonen urged the Federal Government to always supply the embassies detailed information that would aid in nipping the menace in the bud. (NAN)
