The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Julie Okah-Donli

  • 128 Nigerian deportees arrive from Libya

    128 Nigerian deportees arrive from Libya

    A batch of 128 Nigerians deported from Libya arrived in Lagos on Thursday aboard a chartered Airbus A320 Afriqiyah aircraft with registration number 5A-ONA

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the aircraft landed at 5.35p.m at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.

    The deportees, comprising 126 male, two female, were flown back into the waiting hands of officers of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) and the Police.

    Also on ground were officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

    The two females and four male deportees had medical cases.

    The Director General, NEMA, Alhaji Mustapha Maihaja, represented by Mr Suleiman Yakubu, Zonal Coordinator, South West, NEMA, used to occasion to counsel Nigerians not to be deceived by phantom promises in their quest for pastures.

    He said that one of those who returned had sustained bullet injuries all over his body had been stretchered into a NEMA ambulance.

    Maihaja said the victim would be taken to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) for proper medical attention.

    He advised Nigerians to stay back and contribute their quota to the socio-economic development of the country.

    “There are a lot of things you can do in Nigeria here. You don’t have to travel outside the country in search of greener pastures.

    “My advice to parents is to keep tab on their children and to ensure that they know where their children are going and not to be deceived by phantom promises,” he said.

    Maihaja said NEMA and some state governments had put various schemes in place to help rehabilitate and reintegrate returnees into the society.

    The Director-General, National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, Mrs. Julie Okah-Donli, had on Wednesday said that 540 Nigerians were set for deportation from Libya, beginning from Aug. 10.

    She had said that the deportees would be brought back to Nigeria in three batches.

    Thousands of Nigerians have been flown back from Libya, with some voluntarily returning with the help of the International Organisation for Migration.

  • NAPTIP promises tough time for human part sellers, traffickers

    NAPTIP promises tough time for human part sellers, traffickers

    The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) says it is committed to end emerging trend in human trafficking and selling of human parts in the country.

    Ms Julie Okah-Donli, NAPTIP Director- General, said this when speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Tuesday.

    She explained that traffickers were now desperate to make quick money as they had come up with new trend of selling human parts.

    “The new trend now in human trafficking is human organ transportation or organ harvesting so to speak. They sell humans an organ of now, it has gone beyond prostitution.

    “They think selling of human parts is easier to make more money, unfortunately, that is the latest way of human trafficking now.

    “The agency under my watch will not spare anyone caught in the act,’’ she said.

    Okah-Donli said that the agency would continue to collaborate with security operatives in the country to arrest the ugly situation.

    She said that people should not make poverty and unemployment as factors responsible for their indulgence in human trafficking.

    The NAPTIP boss explained that she had created anti-corruption unit to fight corruption among the personnel of the agency, warning that any officer found wanting would be dealt with accordingly.

    Okah-Donli said that the agency had been doing a lot in terms of awareness creation to reduce menace of human trafficking.

  • Buhari urges Governors’ wives to domesticate future assured programme

    Buhari urges Governors’ wives to domesticate future assured programme

    The Wife of President Muhammadu Buhari, Hajiya Aisha Buhari, on Thursday, advised Governors wives to domesticate her pet project, ‘’Future Assured Project’’, to boost the fight against human trafficking in  the country.

    Buhari gave the advice at a public lecture in Abuja on anti- trafficking, to commemorate the week-long 2017 World Day against human trafficking.

    Represented by Mrs Grace Shema, Coordinator, Women and Youth Empowerment Programme office of the President’s wife, Buhari said that the programme would empower women to be self reliant.

    She further explained that the project was targeted at saving vulnerable children to any form of abuse.

    “I am calling on the wives of governors to initiate action targeted at the elimination of human trafficking through future assured programme in their states.

    “Human trafficking is alien to our culture in Nigeria and we must do everything possible as a people to completely eliminate it from the society,” she said.

    The wife of the president described human trafficking as a crime that violated the essence of humanhood, adding that it must be condemned out rightly.

    Earlier in her remarks, the Director-General, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Julie Okah-Donli, said human trafficking was a threat to human, national and international security.

    Okah-Donli said trafficking in persons desecrated the human person and fueled other crimes such as drug trafficking, arms smuggling and terrorism.

    “I must confess that our response to trafficking in persons has been reactive and designed to deal with the consequences of the scourge rather than its root causes.

    “This makes our current preventive responses a piecemeal and uncoordinated.

    ‘’We are therefore calling for a much more strategic approach that addresses poverty and social exclusion by government at all levels,” she said.

    According to her, the phenomena of human trafficking are multifaceted, dynamic and cost intensive which must be dealt with enlightenment and empowerment therapy.

  • NAPTIP to deploy modern technology in tracking human traffickers – DG

    The Director-General, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Person (NAPTIP), Mrs Julie Okah-Donli, said it would adopt modern technology to tackle the menace of human trafficking.

    Okah-Donli told journalists on Wednesday in Lagos the Agency would adopt proactive measures in identifying and apprehending human traffickers.

    “My tenure will see to the adoption of modern technology, skills and expertise in investigation and prosecution.

    “Human trafficking is a global phenomenon of serious concern that requires collective effort.

    “It is a known fact that human trafficking has moved from the era of analogue and person-to-person recruitment to a well-orchestrated criminal network.

    “A network that is designed to deceive even the very best of operatives.

    “Surveillance and intelligence teams will be increased around known endemic communities and crime clusters,” Okah-Donli said.

    According to the DG, the Agency would build synergy with critical stakeholders in the community, including religious and opinion leaders, for the purpose of monitoring unwholesome activities of traffickers within settlements.

    “For the perpetrators of the heinous crime, it is time to close shops.

    “With hot pursuits by NAPTIP, they should give up on this evil trade and look for new and genuine business,” said the DG.

  • 500 Nigerians to be deported from Libya – NAPTIP

    At least 500 Nigerians would be deported from Libya on Thursday and next Tuesday, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic In Person (NAPTIP) has said.

    NAPTIP’s Director-General, Julie Okah-Donli, stated this during her maiden visit to Lagos Zonal Command in Ikeja.

    She said 250 would arrive the country on Thursday and the other 250 by Tuesday.

    Okah-Donli, who declared war against human traffickers and organisations representing them, said a template would be released soon and any organisation that refused to comply with same would be sanctioned.

    According to her, NAPTIP was on the verge of releasing its “name and shame” policy, to expose those behind human trafficking to the world.

    The NAPTIP boss said the agency has recorded modest achievements since inception in 2003, adding that a total of 4,755 cases were received; 10,685 victims rescued and supported, and 323 convictions secured.

    She said: “However, the trend of deportation of Nigerians from different parts of the world, especially in Africa in recent times is frightening and must be changed.

    “For instance, between February and April, no fewer than 1,134 Nigerians were deported from different parts of the world for various offences. Out of the number, 905 were deported from Libya in five batches. As if that was not enough, we are expecting 250 on Thursday and another 250 persons next week, all from Libya. This number does not include the over 5,000, mainly victims of human trafficking in Mali, awaiting evacuation back home.

    “In the last few days, I have interacted with various stakeholders and we have discovered that many people are still living in ignorance of the presence of this modern day slavery in our midst and the need to join hands to fight it.

    “We have also seen the haphazard manner with which various stakeholders are battling it without the required synergy. In the next few months, NAPTIP would come up with a template to ensure comprehensive synergy amongst all stakeholders. We will not impose this template on the stakeholders but will hold discussions on it and anyone who runs foul afterwards, would face necessary sanctions.”

  • FG to name, shame traffickers says NAPTIP chief

    The Federal Government would employ the name and shame policy to ensure that those who get involved in trafficking do not have a hiding place anywhere across the globe, Director-General, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Julie Okah-Donli, has said.

    She said this at her maiden press briefing with reporters at the headquarters of the agency in Abuja.

    Okah-Donli also said she would appeal to the government to expand the whistle blowing policy to accommodate the crime of human trafficking.

    According to her, if the whistle blowing policy is succeeding in the fight against corruption, it should also succeed when deployed to detect and prevent trafficking in persons.

    She said: “We will employ the name and shame policy to ensure that those who get involved do not have a hiding place anywhere across the globe.

    “I will appeal to government to kindly expand the scope of the whistle blowing policy to accommodate the crime of human trafficking. If this policy is succeeding in the fight against corruption, it should also succeed when deployed to detect and prevent trafficking in persons.

    “We must do all to protect the lives and dignity of our next generation who are being destroyed now by criminally minded individuals.

    “It is a known fact that human trafficking has moved from the era of analogue and person-person recruitment of victims to a well-orchestrated criminal network that is designed to deceive even the very best operatives.

    “This is why the agency during my tenure shall move with all vigour, techniques, skills and the expertise to nab any human trafficker, from the point of conceiving the idea to the point of exploitation.

    “Efforts shall be made to equip operatives of the agency to detect and proactively burst any human trafficking action form the bud. The era of trading on our promising youths as commodities is over and all machinery must be put in place to ensure that our youths have a secure future.

    “We shall increase our surveillance and intelligence around the known endemic communities and villages coupled with a reloaded sensitization and public enlightenment campaign.

    “We shall increase our advocacy to policy makers and other arms of government like the legislators, judiciary and the civil society organizations for the purpose of enhancing accelerated dispensation of justice.”

    She said the agency since inception has 3,407 cases and rescued 10, 685 victims.

    “A critical analysis of the overall performance of the agency shows that since its inception, it has received a total of 4,755 cases, investigated 3, 407 while a huge number of 10, 685 victims have been rescued. In the same vein, the agency has convicted a total number of 321 persons,” she added.