Tag: NAPTIP

The Lagos Zonal Command, National Agency for Prohibition of Traffic In Persons and Other Related Matters (NAPTIP) has urged the judiciary to hastily dispose of cases involving human traffickers.

The Zonal Commander, Mr Joseph Famakin, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that speedy prosecution of suspected traffickers would help in prosecuting the fight against the vice.

Famakin, who spoke against the backdrop of the number of cases the agency had pending in the High and Supreme Courts, said it would also restrain intending traffickers.

He disclosed that the agency had 53 cases pending in the six states within zone and seven in the Court of Appeal and four in the Supreme Court.

Famakin said: “The problem is that the judicial procedure is cumbersome in the sense that there are cases that can last for two to three years. And in the process sometimes, witnesses become disillusioned. In a case that is on for two years, and witnesses have given evidence, then the judge is transferred, a new judge takes over and the case has to start over again.”

Famakin said in the process, prosecution witnesses could have begun a new phase of life and might find it difficult coming back to the court.

He said: “I give you a simple scenario, a lady who was trafficked came back to Nigeria, she was rescued by NAPTIP and as the case commenced she testified.

“Then at the stage of concluding the case which has been on for four years, the judge was then transferred and another judge took over and the case had to start again.

“By then, the lady had got married and her husband was unaware she was a victim of human trafficking because of stigmatisation. In trying to call her to come and testify for us again, she was already pregnant for the second time.

“She told us there is no way she could come to testify and that she has come to Lagos up to five times to come and testify earlier on. What will she tell her husband that she is going to Lagos to do?’’

The commander said the judicial system needed a holistic reform not only for cases of human trafficking but in all court proceedings.

“The problem is a general one that allows cases to last for more than what it’s expected to be, we need to do something about it. If you know the number of cases we have in Lagos zone presently, about 53 in the six states in the zone.

“We have seven cases in the court of appeal, four cases in the Supreme Court but we have handed over two to Abuja to handle. And some of these cases have been on for about five years,’’ he said.

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and other Related Matters (NAPTIP) says its Lagos Zonal Office has rescued 281 persons trafficked between January and July.

The agency also said it reunited 252 victims of human trafficking with their families after conducting a surveillance and investigation on their families.

Mr Joseph Famakin, Commander, Lagos Zone, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Lagos.

“We have rescued 281 victims of human trafficking from January till date. We have also reunited 252 victims with their families after conducting a surveillance and investigation about their families. The agency ensured that the victims returned to the right people to avoid such a situation again,’’ he said.

The commander said NAPTIP Shelter where rescued victims were kept for rehabilitation had ensured that they were re-integrated into the society.

“The shelter is the first place where the victims are received. After they had settled down, they go through the three R’s of Rescue, Rehabilitation and Reintegration.

“We have competent care givers available at the shelter that take them through all the process,’’ he said.

Famakin added that the agency had a Victims Trust Fund that enabled it to empower victims after graduating from different skills acquisition centers.

He said: “We now have the Victim Trust Fund and the agency now generates funds to enable it empower the victims after going through the three R’s. We have competent care givers from all fields that take care of all these. We also ask the victims what they want to do after the counselling process.

“We have victims that have returned to schools; the agency takes responsibilities of all the bills and we have some that showed interest in skills acquisition.

“We don’t give money to victims directly, we look for shops, pay the rent, equip the place and watch them for at least two years to enable them completely erase their tragic experiences,’’ he said.

He, however, said the agency would not relent in creating public awareness through the media on efforts to curb the menace.

According to him, the strategies are public enlightenment, campaign in schools, town hall meetings and jingles in the media.

“NAPTIP in a bid to curb human trafficking and other forms of sexual exploitation has increased awareness creation in all parts of the country through the internet, social media and other forms of communication.

“We are engaging our stakeholders via social media, educating people on the dangers of human trafficking as well as the tricks employed by traffickers to lure their victims.

“There have been town hall meetings with various sectors of the community as well as massive collaboration with NGO0s and security agencies,’’ Famakin said.

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic In Persons (NAPTIP) has arraigned a hotelier, Chief Ibidun Joshua, at the Federal High Court in Lagos for allegedly forcing a 14-year-old girl and others into prostitution.

He and four others – Osasuwa Ruth, Mabel Tasowia, Segun Ajose and Taiye Adesanya – were alleged to have committed the crime at his Daka Hotel at Seme border, Badagry.

NAPTIP said they lured two teenagers, aged 14 and 17, from Benin City, Edo State, into prostitution.

The alleged offence, NAPTIP said, is contrary to Section 15(a) of the Trafficking In Person (Prohibition) Law Enforcement and Admnistration Act, 2003.

The agency said Ruth lured the 14-year-old on January 10, 2010 to Badagry for the purpose of forcing her into prostitution, while Tasowia was alleged to have deceived the 17-year-old on February 7, 2010.

Joshua was accused of running a hotel where teenagers were forced into prostitution and for benefiting from the proceeds of such illicit business, Ajose, the hotels manager, was charged with encouraging underaged persons into prostitution.

Adesanya was accused of organising the illicit business and remitting the proceeds to the hotel owner through its manager.

Yesterday, a NAPTIP investigator, Mrs. Agboko Comfort, said Ajose and Adesanya were arrested on March, 5, 2010, adding that Joshua was arrested when he appeared at the agency’s office upon being summoned.

The case has been adjourned till October 13 for trial.