Director General, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Professor Fatima Waziri-Azi, has said that the agency has so far secured 624 convictions since 2004 of which 80 were secured last year, the highest ever and 48 in 2023.
She made this known at an Anti-human Trafficking Awareness Walk themed ‘Footprints of Hope: A 20 Year Journey, in Abuja.
The DG said in terms of punishment for human traffickers, Nigeria has a very comprehensive Act enacted in 2003, the Trafficking in Persons Prohibition Enforcement and Administration Act provides for 22 different punishments covering issues of sexual exploitation, labour exploitation, child labour, trafficking of persons for organ removal, debt bondage, slavery and all slavery-like activities among others.
“In terms of our criminal justice system here in Nigeria, I will say NAPTIP has secured a total of 624 convictions since the first conviction was secured in 2004 and just last year, we were able to secure 80 convictions which is the highest in any single year since the inception of NAPTIP,” Waziri-Azi said.
“As at today in 2023, we have already secured 48 convictions and counting. So in terms of laws and policies, I will say that Nigeria is very well placed in dissuading traffickers and would be traffickers but then when you think of the enormity, I think we can do more in terms of prosecution and convictions.”
United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Matthias Schmale, pointed that this year’s World Day Against Trafficking in Persons aims to raise awareness of disturbing developments and trends identified by the latest UNODC Global Report on Trafficking in Persons.
Represented by the Deputy Representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, (UNODC), Nigeria, Danilo Campisi, he said “The 2022 report informs us that 41% of West African victims are trafficked for sexual exploitation and 57% for forced labour. Nigerians represent by far the highest number of identified Victims of trafficking in West Africa.
“Furthermore, the report shows a significant decrease in the number of Nigerian victims being identified and rescued in Western countries, while witnessing a significant increase in West Africa, the Gulf, and Asia.”
On his part, Campisi said said a lot is being done in terms of stringent punishment for human trafficking offenders but it is not a fight for one but for all hence the importance of global cooperation.
Speaking on the significance of the awareness walk to it’s Anti-human trafficking efforts, Program Assistant, International Center for Migration Policy Development, (ICMPD), Adeniyi Baker, said “The walk against human trafficking is to indicate that everybody is collaborating, joining forces together to kick out human trafficking from our societies.
“This is so significant because we are marking the World Day Against Human Trafficking and we have seen all partners including international stakeholders.
He notes that “the number of interventions that has also been undertaken in the country has significantly increased and the impact is also felt in the society especially at the grassroots level because I know for the international centre for migration policy development, supported by the Kingdom of Netherlands, we supported NAPTIP in a couple of projects like medical outreach to victims of human trafficking at the shelters.”
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