Following the rescue and evacuation of 22 pregnant women from the two baby factories in Isheri-Osun and Okota area of Lagos state, 11 of them have been delivered of their babies.
The rescued girls and six other children had been at the facilities of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) after being rescued.
Confirming the development to Channels Television, the Zonal Head of the agency in Lagos, Daniel Atoloko revealed that 10 of the girls gave birth through normal delivery while one had a cesarean session.
He added that four girls and six boys made the addition to the home, stating that one of the babies died in the course of delivery.
Mr. Atoloko explained that the two girls who had attempted to perform abortions before their eventual rescue also had miscarriages.
He added that NAPTIP is calling for more support from the Federal Government and other organizations, as they anticipate deliveries from nine other rescued girls.
The Director-General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, Julie Okah-Donli
Director-General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Barrister Julie Okah-Donli, has explained how the agency intends to fight the scourge of human trafficking.
According to Okah-Donli, new means have to be used to curb the activities of traffickers because they themselves keep deploying new strategies in their illicit business.
She, therefore, believes that the solution to dealing with the menace decisively is to properly educate the masses on the dangers of the activity.
“We need to carry out this sensitisation and awareness campaign aggressively in all the states because when you concentrate on one state, what it does is that the traffickers move to the next, the next and the next (state),” she said on The Chat airing on Channels TV.
“So we must have this massive awareness campaign simultaneously in all the states and that is why we went ahead to set up Human Trafficking Task Force in some states”.
One of such states, is Edo State where according to her, Governor Godwin Obaseki’s administration oversees the Human Trafficking Task Force.
She, however, called on other governors to step up their game and join hands to effectively fight the menace in the country, while also calling on parents to adequately cater to their children to prevent them from being victims of human trafficking.
When asked if she is more passionate about NAPTIP or her Non-Governmental Organisation, Okah-Donli replied saying: “I cannot separate one from the other. I am passionate about everything.
“At the end of the day, they are all service to humanity. My NGO is service to humanity, NAPTIP is also service to humanity. If you look at it closely, they are all related,” she said.
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, (NAPTIP) has announced plans to launch a sex offender register to name and shame rapists and offenders of other forms of violence against persons.
According to the Director General of NAPTIP, Julie Okah, the implementation of the register is aimed at putting an end to all forms of violence against persons in private and public life, and to provide maximum protection and effective remedies for victims and punishment of offenders.
“The spate of this mindless abuse of children, rape and other forms of violence against persons has assumed an alarming dimension and concerted efforts must be made to minimise the development.
“By the end of this month (July), we are going to be launching the sex offenders register. This register is going to name and shame all the rapist in Nigeria.”
She intimated of plans to share information gathered through the register to embassies, companies and the general public, in a bid to pass a strong message to potential offenders.
“We are also going to share the information with all the embassies, offices where people are likely to apply for jobs, sensitive offices where rapists and paedophiles should never be seen working.
“At the time we begin to name and shame them, I believe that it will send a strong message to those who are planning to rape and they will desist from that heinous crime.”
Mrs Okah said that these crimes can be prosecuted irrespective of the time; she urged rape victims to speak up and get their offenders punished.
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has asked Nigerians to be cautious of new tricks deployed by human traffickers on unsuspecting victims.
The agency, through its Director-General, Julie Okah-Donli, who appeared on Channels Television’s Hard Copy on Friday, said that the traffickers use religion and juicy job offers to lure people in rural areas.
“There is a very big problem, a new trend where religion has been brought into this, we have people who deceive young girls and boys that they want to send them for a pilgrimage to either Mecca or Jerusalem and when people hear this, they are excited.
“Then we have these travel agencies, who go into the rural areas again and bring these young girls and tell them that they are going to get jobs as housemaids in the holy land in Saudi Arabia, and they take them there and the rest is history; most of them are trafficked, we get distressed calls every day from girls being trafficked.”
Okah-Donli also revealed that based on statistics released by foreign governments, the figures of human trafficking has reduced drastically.
“In Italy, the number of Nigerians going into Italy has dropped significantly, so we are told by the authorities. Likewise, Spain, France and so many other countries have dropped, and we believe that people are getting more aware.
“Back in the days, they (traffickers) had this oath-swearing ceremony before they shipped the children out of Nigeria. Now they have taken it out to the destination countries where the victims are stuck and cannot run away without a choice.
“You cannot sensitise the whole country at once because these criminals go into the rural communities where there is little or no access to the social media,” she added.
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has explained why it is important for its officials to be present at Nigeria’s airport and borders.
NAPTIP Director-General, Julie Okah-Donli, said this during her appearance on the latest episode of Channels Television’sHard Copy which aired on Friday.
Okah-Donli, who alleged that NAPTIP officials were not allowed at the airports and borders, stressed that their presence would go a long way in tackling the menace of human trafficking and other related crimes.
According to her, the purported refusal was attributed to the Ease of Doing Business which the authorities claimed would be affected by the presence of the officials of the agency.
“Unfortunately, we are not allowed to be at the airport, I have brought this up severally on the need and importance for NAPTIP to be at the airport and borders, but we were told that the Ease of Doing Business will not allow NAPTIP to be at the airport or borders.
“I will still continue to push until we are allowed to stay at the airport and at the borders; the reason being that, those at the airport and borders don’t have trafficking as their core mandate, so they are definitely going to concentrate on their core mandate. But NAPTIP’s mandate is to stop all types of human trafficking, and so if they have our officials at the airport, we will definitely stop human trafficking.
“It is important that NAPTIP is stationed at the airports, seaports and borders; if that happens, we will see a drastic drop in the number of girls who are trafficked to the Middle East,” she stressed.
On the area of collaborating with other enforcement agencies and stakeholders, the NAPTIP boss expressed that the level of relationship can be improved on.
“It is extremely important for NAPTIP to have a very good relationship with all the law enforcement agencies and relevant stakeholders because there must be synergy, cooperation and there must be coordination.
“I am not feeling it the way I want to feel it and that is why I am reaching out to the law enforcement agencies because some of them think they are superior, but I tell them that we are working together for the good of Nigeria; we must come together and work closely.
“We are collaborating in the fight against human trafficking with the Immigration service; we are both trying to see what we can do to ensure that we bring it to the barest minimum.”
The Director General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Julie Okah-Donli, has raised an alarm over what he described as new tricks employed by human traffickers.
Okah-Donli who was speaking during an interactive meeting with the Edo State Task Force against trafficking in Benin City lamented that the menace appears to have heightened despite measures to curb it.
She urged all stakeholders to be vigilant as they go about their duties while also dismissing the notion that only underage girls can be victims of trafficking.
“You must beam your searchlight on transporters. Go to the motor parks because this is where they take these girls from. Then you go to the waterside, they take the boats too,” she said.
“By the time you seize one bus, prosecute the bus owner, prosecute the driver, trust me they will stop carrying people.
“The traffickers are not waiting for us, they are always on the move and they are very fast, so we must be ahead of them at all times. Then you also have to look at orphanages.
“There’s a lot of orphanage trafficking going on but a lot of people don’t know.
“Some of them actually kidnap children from the local communities on the streets and put them there.
“Human trafficking is not about underage girls so when you talk about underage girls, you miss the point.
“I can be trafficked; a 50-year-old woman can be trafficked. Anybody can be trafficked so it’s not about underage girls. Even boys can be trafficked as well”.
Also speaking on the matter, the chairman of the Edo State Task Force, Yinka Omorogbe, stressed the importance of collaboration by stakeholders in tackling the scourge.
She also promised that the agency will work with the tips shared by NAPTIP during the meeting.
(File) NAPTIP Director-General, Julie Okah-Donli, addressing a gathering at a town hall meeting. Photo: naptip.gov.ng
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has identified human trafficking as one of the components of terrorism.
NAPTIP Director General, Julie Okah-Donli, warned that the trend is a major threat to good governance and the rapid economic recovery of any nation, a statement by the agency said on Thursday.
“Gaps in national security portend a great threat to social and economic goals,” she was quoted as saying while delivering a paper titled ‘Mass Exodus of Youths and National Development: A Case of Nigeria – Libya – Europe Migration Trend’ at an event in Delta State.
“Research has proven a strong link between weak migration system and insecurity as migrants sometimes become objects of criminal exploitation.
“Nigerian government over the years and particularly, under the current administration holds a unique philosophy for national security which is to establish a safe and secure environment,” Okah-Donli added.
She also identified illegal border crossing, document forgery, abuse of human right, kidnapping, money laundering, drug trafficking, weapon trafficking and violence against persons (VAPs) as offshoots of human trafficking.
According to the NAPTIP DG, these also serve as major components of illicit crime networks capable of breaching and sabotaging the positive elements of national security.
She revealed that Delta State ranks third among source states for victims of human trafficking, coming after Edo and Kano states.
“As stated earlier, almost all the states in Nigeria are affected by migration and human trafficking,” said Okah-Donli. “Ika community is under the jurisdiction of Benin Zonal Command of NAPTIP which covers Edo and Delta States.”
She added, “From inception to June 2018, the agency has rescued a total of 12,939 victims across Nigeria. Out of this number, 822 are from Delta state and 132 (representing 16.06% of victims from Delta State) are from Ika community.”
“By the end of July 2018, the number of victims rescued from Delta State alone rose to 831 from 822, with the addition of nine more victims recorded as at June 2018.”
The NAPTIP boss proposed that human traffickers should be treated as enemies of the state while the phenomenon should be tackled the same way as the fight against terrorism in some parts of the country.
She decried that victims of human trafficking were ready tools in the hands of any trafficker who could use them for nefarious purposes, including activities that pose a threat to the security of the nation.
Also addressing the audience, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta decried the rate of human trafficking in the state.
He urged parents to advise their children to stay in the country and avail themselves of the available opportunities that would better their lives.
Governor Okowa stated that embarking on a deadly journey was not the best alternative to any challenge that may be confronting the nation.
The event was organised by NAPTIP in partnership with stakeholders to enlighten Nigerians across the six geo-political zones of the country on the dangers of human trafficking, child labour and irregular migration among others.
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has arrested two members of a trafficking syndicate.
The suspects were arrested at the upper mission area of Benin City, the Edo State capital.
The Commander, NAPTIP Benin Zonal Command, Nduka Nwanwenne who revealed this in an interview with Channels Television said the suspects Mr Festus Osakpolor Osayamwonbor and his wife, Mrs Kate Osayamwonbor were apprehended with three victims, whom they were taking to the motor park.
He said preliminary investigation indicated that the suspects are said to own a five-bedroom apartment in Tripoli Libya, where they accommodate the people being trafficked.
“Some of the items we recovered from them are travelling passports of the victims, we also recovered a diary containing evidence of payment by suspects to them, we also recovered pictures of female victims that they may have trafficked in the past.
“They are claiming to have trafficked about 15 persons, that’s their claim but we are still investigating, it could be more than that, because they have lived in Libya for 10 years, they have a home there and they just came back in 2015 but they are still in the business. Apart from that, we also impounded the vehicle they were using to transport the victims that early morning. We also recovered items like pants, like bra, finger nails, pubic hair and all that and these are items for oath taking particularly the female victims.”
Operatives of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) are to work at the Heathrow and Gatwick Airports in London, in a joint operation with the security authorities of the United Kingdom.
The joint operation expected to be for a short period would see the operatives of NAPTIP working side by side with the UK Border Force and other relevant agencies at the two gateways into the UK.
A statement issued by the agency’s spokesman, Josiah Emerole said the development followed some high-level meetings in London between the Director-General of NAPTIP, Julie Okah-Donli and officials of the Home Office of the United Kingdom.
“As part of her partnership drive and in furtherance of her vision towards making NAPTIP a big player in counter-trafficking initiatives across the globe, the Director-General has been engaging various partners within and outside Nigeria, seeking ways of further improving the operations of the agency and the early rescue of Nigerian Potential Victims of Trafficking in Person (PVoTs) from their captors.
“During her meeting with the officials of the Home Office in London, the authorities approved the joint operations at the two airports aimed at randomly profiling passengers with a view to identifying PVoTs and suspected traffickers. The gesture is a result of the NAPTIP boss’ persistence in promoting mutual respect and liaison amongst law enforcement agencies across the globe in the fight against human trafficking,” the statement said.
Mr Emerole expressed optimism that the collaboration would improve mutual sharing of experience, intelligence and expertise between Nigeria and the UK, based on the fact that Nigerian PVoTs could be better identified by Nigerians after a thorough assessment of indicators of trafficking.
He said issues addressed during the meetings include illegal migration, victims care and prosecution of trafficking suspects.
“In her presentation, Okah-Donli who spoke on the need for better collaboration between various countries and the urgent need for joint operations in the fight against human trafficking and illegal migration, stressed the relevance of NAPTIP’s presence at all borders and airports to effectively profile PVoTs and traffickers for necessary actions as other sister law enforcement agencies at such points are overwhelmed with their own areas of mandate and have little or no time to deal with other issues including identification of PVoTs and human traffickers.
“She subsequently emphasised the need to involve operatives of NAPTIP who have also been trained by the UK authorities to jointly work with the UK Border Force at the two airports. Commending the UK authorities for the gesture, Okah-Donli said she will ensure that the operation yields the desired results which would market such collaborative effort to other partnering countries,” the statement added.
The agency asked traffickers and their collaborators to shun the illegal act, stressing that “If we miss you here in Nigeria at departure, we will not miss you as you arrive your destination”.
Two hundred and fifty-eight Nigerians have made their way back from the war-torn North African country of Libya.
They arrived in Lagos on Thursday night aboard a chartered airbus a330-200 operated by Libya Airlines.
Among those who were at the Murtala Muhammed Airport to receive them were Deputy Director Search and Rescue, National Emergency Management Agency and the Director Southwest Zone, National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons.
They both encouraged citizens to believe in their country instead of going out for so-called greener pasture.
Meanwhile, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has handed over 21 of the returnees to the Edo Government who has offered them scholarships, as well as training.
Acting Zonal Coordinator of NAPTIP in the state, Mr Nduka Nwawene said while another 500 persons are expected back soon, over 5,000 are however still stranded.
Edo State Government has offered scholarships, training and empowerment to 21 persons who returned from Libya to the state.
The Edo state head of service Mrs Gladys Idahor disclosed this when receiving the 21 returnees from the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) at their office in Benin City, the Edo State capital.
TheActing Zonal Coordinator of NAPTIP in the state, Mr Nduka Nwawene said while another 500 persons are expected back soon, over 5,000 are however still stranded in the north African country.
The Italian Government has promised improved collaboration with Nigeria towards ensuring both nations achieve better success in the fight against trafficking in persons.
The President of Italy’s Lower Parliament, Laura Boldrini, made the pledge during a visit to Benin City, the Edo State capital.
Boldrini, in company of other top Italian Government officials, was in the state to access the efforts of the Edo State government and that of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) in the fight against trafficking.
She stressed the need for both countries to work together in providing support for NAPTIP and other agencies tackling the menace of the illegal act.
“Italy and Nigeria has to increase cooperation at all levels in order to provide enough resources for NAPTIP and other centres, to support the girls who are sent back from Europe, from Italy to rebuild their lives.
“I also think that we have to intervene before that; we have to give the girls the chance to have a decent job and in other to do so, we have to support the efforts of the Governor of Edo State who is trying to give an alternative,” she recommended.
The Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, appealed for better collaboration with the European country in the fight against trafficking.
“We have derailed in our path as a people. Some of the things we are seeing today are consequences of that derailment and that, we are determined to get back on the path of development.
“We are very clear as to what our issues are, what our problems are, and what the solutions should be,” he said.
The Director General of NAPTIP, Julie Okah-Donli, on her part, spoke on the nature of collaboration they expect from the Italian Government.
“There must definitely be a cartel there, we have not been able to break through this cartel. We are looking for ways where we will partner more with these other countries where these girls are brought back from, so that we can break into this cartel and investigate deeper,” she said.
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has arrested two members of a trafficking syndicate.
Two hundred and fifty-eight Nigerians have made their way back from the war-torn North African country of Libya.
Edo State Government has offered scholarships, training and empowerment to 21 persons who returned from Libya to the state.
The Italian Government has promised improved collaboration with Nigeria towards ensuring both nations achieve better success in the fight against trafficking in persons.