Dame Julie Okah-Donli is a Nigerian Lawyer, chartered secretary and Administrator. She is the Director General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons simply called NAPTIP. She speaks on the war against human trafficking and challenges. Excerpts.
How would you define a true Nigerian?
For me, I would simply define mine with the song; me I like my county, I like the land and people, everything e dey for Nigeria, make we join hands to make Nigeria better. I like’m, I like’m o. For me, a true Nigerian, is one who works here in Nigeria, with Nigerians to make it a better place, no matter what. There is no place like home don’t forget.
Can you educate us on what NAPTIP is all about?
Simply called NAPTIP, is a federal government Anti human trafficking law enforcement agency. We have very wide powers. Such as powers to arrest, prosecute offenders and offenses related to human trafficking. We have powers to seize assets and to confiscate properties, to freeze accounts of traffickers and of course we also have the powers to rescue victims of trafficking and to rehabilitate them as well. Our law enforcement role is very unique in the sense that is a one stop shop. We do not just arrest offenders, we also prosecute them. We rescue and rehabilitate victims and that is the uniqueness in what we do. We do not live the victims high and dry, we rehabilitate and empower them so that they can be integrated back into the society to be useful to themselves and the Nation. We do also protect the rights of victims of violence. Sometimes we do have cases of rape, battering, assaults and things like that, but right now it is restricted only to Abuja. We are still expecting other states to domesticate it and when that is done, it will apply in thirty six states and Abuja. I can assure you that we have cases of assaults been handled by NAPTIP in addition to cases of human trafficking.
This suggests that you must be working hand in hand with the National Human Right Commission?
Yes, we are working with a lot of sister agencies, not just the National human right commission, but so many stake holders. We work with the ministry of justices, ministry of women affaires, National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons and all other law enforcement agencies and the media too. We work with NGOs and CSO. It is all encompassing because we work with the entire society actually.
How do you get tip off of crimes such as your agency is commissioned to handle, considering it concealable nature, mostly when perpetuated by a family member against another family member?
When we rescue victims and it happens that a family member is responsible, it is absolutely irrelevant if he is a family member of the victim or not. He or she will face the law because a crime is a crime and a criminal is a criminal so being a family member makes no difference. Although we have had few instances where the father or the mother of the child are the ones who blindly trafficked the child not knowing that it was trafficking. In cases like that, we counsel them with a stem warning never to indulge in such act again. Most time, for the parents, it is at that point that they realize themselves because they are being tricked into unknowingly to them. For brothers or sisters, most times they are aware and we do let them face the full wroth of the law and in most cases too, they are not even their first victims. Most times we find out that they are not just first timers, but serial traffickers who has done it over and over. In cases such as this, we do not waste any time in prosecuting them at once.
One would wonder how your agency generates information about related cases?
Human trafficking because of the concealable nature of the crime, we work with good intelligence system because these crimes are done behind closed doors in the dark, so we rely on good intelligence to nap offenders and rescue victims. Sometimes we mount surveillance within an area when we are not too sure of what is going on there, while most times, well meaning individuals do calls us to report cases and of cause we have whistle blower platforms, but so far, those that had brought us such information, have not demanded for any penny in return. They simply did it as service to humanity with a lot of dignity, not for any penny and we encourage such from members of the public to always bring forward information about suspicious activates in order to save innocent lives. Some time our partners do report cases of such to us. We also get support from sister agencies who rescue’s victims on their way or intercept them as the case might be. It is a very tricky crime that requires a lot of collaboration with sister agencies to check.
Revelations from Libya took the world by storm and a lot of Nigerians wondered how they got there under your watch?
I want to say that a lot of Nigerians died, they are still dying and more will eventually die if they are not stopped and that is exactly what we are doing in NAPTIP. On how did they get there? Unfortunately, we do not have our officials in any of the borders due to constrain. What that mean, is that we do not have NAPTIP officials at the airports, land borders and seaports and that is not good for the country. For this reason, I cannot answer the question of how they got there. Where we come in is; yes haven got there, NAPTIP has embarked on massive awareness campaign on preventing more people from going. Prevention they say is better than cure, you will agree with me.
We have been campaigning in endemic areas, trying to stop people from embanking in such fruitless journey in the first place. For those who are already stocked there, we are working assiduously with the federal government to bring them back home. Over two thousand of them have been repatriated. More are been repatriated weekly in conjunction with the ION who actually brought back so many Nigerians from Libya. There are some places in Libya that are very difficult to access due to the unrest. The militia fighting themselves creating hostilities, but the federal government is doing a lot to ensure that every one of them returns back home as soon as possible. Not just in Libya, we have Nigerians stranded all over the world and the federal government is not relenting in its efforts through NAPTIP in ensuring a safe return home for them all.
Which country would you say accounts for more stranded Nigerians?
Well, there are Nigerians stranded all over the world, but I cannot on the spot tell you which country in particular accounts for the largest shock of stranded Nigerians, but I can tell you that Italy, France, Spain have a lot of Nigerians although Nigerians are more in the west African countries, than the European countries.
Given the magnitude of inhuman treatment metted out to those stranded Nigerians, especially in Libya. Has there been any form of compensation or Apology from the Libyan government to Nigeria and these victims?
Well, I am surprised that the returnees have not come together to file a class action against the Libyan government. At same time, I know that there is so much ciaos going on in Libya with the legitimate government, within an illegitimate government situation, you might want to ask. Which of the government should be sued?
Never the less, I know that when they talk to their lawyers, they will always find a way to bringing justice to them, not minding the surrounding factors. There will defiantly be a way to handle it so that other countries will seat up and be careful. You know that the law is very clear on the fundamental human rights of irregular migrants which should not be denied of them not minding their status. They need to engage the pro-bono lawyers to look into their case and find a way of holding the Libya government accountable for the ill treatments.
Are you sure that these victims are aware of the class action you mentioned?
Well, their lawyers will educate them better on it. No matter your status, you are entitled to some dignity as a human and so they can get the pro-bono lawyers. They are lawyer who do not charge a cent to represent you and we have a lot of them. We have a lot of them with us.