Roland Ogbonnaya
5 July 2009
(Page 2 of 2)
He said these young girls are given away to their customers after they have patronised the restaurant. If NAPTIP want to intervene, the girls would not tell the real story as they leave in fear of being returned to the villages and so they are prepared to obey the instructions of the people who have brought them to the cities. While on the other hand, young able bodied men are moved to cocoa farms in the western part of the country where they do hard labour without worthwhile remuneration.
"All these lie in our tradition where unsuspecting parents back home entrust their children and wards to these people who promise to give them better lives, not knowing that they are used for forced labour. These are the issues we are facing and we believe that the main focus should be public enlightenment so that we inform parents the intention of those that take their children and promise them better lives but turn out not to be true.
In that regard, Egede said all its zonal offices have been provided with some form of sensitization materials to inform the people about the trade so that they can devise means to reject juicy but fake promises of the traffickers. He believes that when people are aware of the real intentions of the traffickers, they would become less vulnerable.
He said "we are pleased to inform that the United States government has undertaken a project on public awareness, they have voted a very large sum of money for it and they are bringing an officer from Washington for this purpose. We believe that by the time it takes off more people will be aware of the evil of human trafficking and then prepare themselves against the traffickers and their antics. We have also been in touch with Wale Adenuga Productions (WAP) for the production of a television drama series. If we have money to execute this, it will be very successful because over 50 million Nigerians would watch the programme.
All these to Egede are testimonies that the organisation is making progress in the fight against human trafficking. "We are indeed making good progress; the statistics are very clear as we have stepped up our prosecution of the traffickers. I am pleased to report that recently, within one week we have had nine convictions. These people have been sentenced to jail terms without options of fine. We believe that these will give a clear message and signal to the traffickers that it cannot be business as usual. Again we have rehabilitated over 3,000 victims, and some of them were trained in various vocations.
"We are also supporting the rescued victims with finance to enable them establish small businesses. Many of them have made progress and are now useful to the society. We have also raised a very high level of awareness, traveled around the country and worked with Nigerian communities in various countries to see how they would come in to assist in the rehabilitation of the victims. So we have made a lot of progress in the spate of five years; we have also established various offices and accommodations in various parts of the country," the executive secretary stated.
The organisation, he stressed, has been making so much progress that it was not surprised that the United Nation during its 2009 annual global report on trafficking in persons, Nigeria was elevated from tier two to tier one. Tier one meaning that it is the highest level of classification and through the hard work of his predecessor, Chief Mrs. Carol Ndaguba and the team she put in place, the agency has been able to achieve this feat in just five years. However, he believes with more vigour and determination, NAPTIP would sustain its status in tier one.
The elevation to tier one by the US Government definition, Egede said, is that the Nigerian government now fully complies with all efforts to eradiate trafficking in persons. That is to say that the country has put in place all necessary machineries, while government has shown that it is prepared to stop the menace by giving financial and all manner of support to ensure that trafficking in persons is eradicated.
"So to that extent, it shows that we have reached the level where the world is satisfied that we are doing what it takes to battle the traffickers. We have reached the level where the traffickers themselves would begin to feel that they are up against the law of the nation and that is very important. Again, it is very important because we are now in a position where we can get the maximum support and cooperation for their efforts," a former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in Benue State said.
He emphasised that the conviction of the 13 traffickers recently would send a clear signal to traffickers that the road is now tough and it is not business as usual. He commended the Nigerian Police, Immigration Service and the Judiciary for a job well done. "As you know, ours is a small agency and we rely very much on the collaborative action of these agencies. Most of the arrests that are made are by the police and immigration services. I must say that the judiciary has helped us so well because each case taken to court are held by very reputable judges and emphasis is not on option of fines, but jail terms. We are happy that the judiciary is living up to expectation and is also giving the maximum sentences and jail terms to the convicts," Egede said with a sense of fulfillment. Consequently, THISDAY investigation showed that the National Assembly has aided the work of the agency by giving it a comprehensive law to guide its operations. The Act itself has provision for assets confiscation and sales, and use proceeds for the benefit of victims. It is established under the board headed by the Attorney General of the Federation. Once conviction is secured and assets of the trafficker connected with the crimes are traced and identified, NAPTIP goes back to the court with a motion for orders of the court to enable it have them confiscated and sold.
Once the Court grants this, the movable and immoveable assets are sold and the proceeds are paid into the Victims of Trafficking Trust Funds. The agency however, has not succeeded so much in assets confiscation and sales because it does not have the technical knowledge and most of the traffickers as with other criminal organisations are based mainly in Europe, while those arrested in Nigeria are mere agents.
However, two of the convictions NAPTIP secured recently involved the prosecution of a proprietor of a brothel in Lagos. Those are the rare cases where it actually apprehended the core people in the business that kept young girls and exploit daily. The agency has secured his conviction and the next thing the agency said it will do is to apply to the court to have the brothel confiscated and sold and proceeds paid into the coffers of the Trafficking Trust Fund.
To seriously tackle or fight human trafficking, there is a need to look critically on what the law says about house helps because all these areas are captured in the NAPTIP Act. Egede said if a girl of about 25 to 30 years old who chose to go into prostitution as a profession, that is her choice. "Here we are talking of children who are not matured and cannot decide for themselves and are being lured into these places and then exploited.
"The Child Right Act is very clear that a child of that certain age should be in school. So all we are now trying to do in collaboration with the state is to sensitise them to implement the child right act and the states that have not implemented them, we are urging them to adopt them. Once this Child Right Act is put together, you won't have young girls and boys that are being used as hawkers and street vendors. This is a challenge that we are all determined to face," he emphasised.
Though he added that poverty and economic backwardness is part of the problem, but he quickly argued that it is not all of it that is economic. For example, he said Edo State is in the forefront of human trafficking and most of the people apprehended are from that state, despite a lot of campaign in those areas.
Again, he insisted that poverty is a major factor that lures people into the hands of the traffickers, but maintained that it is not an excuse that should be encouraged. He, therefore, warned prospective traffickers that NAPTIP like never before has been strategically positioned to go after them. "We will snuff them out from wherever they are," Egede said.
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