By Henry Uche
The Honourable Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajia Sadiya Umar Farouk, has pledged Federal Government’s resolve to continously provide necessary support and resources to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) in a bid to adequately address the issue of human trafficking and other associated humanitarian crisis in the Country.
A statement delivered on yesterday by the press officer of NAPTIP, Adekoye Vincent, revealed that the Minister stated this in her office while receiving the newly appointed Director General of NAPTIP, Imaan Sulaiman – Ibrahim who was on a courtesy visit to the Minister.
The Minister who described NAPTIP as a foremost Agency of Government whose mandate is critical in mitigating human trafficking and all forms abuses across Nigeria, urged the Director General to build on the successes recorded by the Agency in the past and ensure evidence based activities that will further increase the visibility of the Agency.
While urging her to reach out to partners and other line ministries in order to secure full cooperation of the entire Nigeria, the Minister charged the NAPTIP boss to ensure that her programmes and activities clearly align with mandates of the Ministry.
Earlier in her address, the NAPTIP DG had reminded the Minister saying: “NAPTIP is the creation of Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act (TIPPEA), 2015 as re-enacted, in response to addressing the scourge of trafficking in persons in Nigeria and its attendant human rights abuses in its entire ramification. It is also a fulfillment of the Federal Governments international obligation under the Trafficking in Persons Protocol supplementing the United Nations Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC).
She promised that NAPTIP is fully committed to the prevention of all forms of human degradation and exploitation through the coordinated use of the nations crime prevention and law enforcement resources to stamp out human trafficking and to liberate and uplift the vulnerable, especially women, children and youths, from dehumanizing and exploitative employment and usage, with the deployment of the Five P Approach which are: Policy development, Prevention, Protection, Prosecution, and Partnering with stakeholders to ensure their rehabilitation and effective reintegration of victims into the society.
“However, the Agency is inundated with challenges and draw backs that are hindering our growth and development. These challenges have affected the smooth running of our operations towards achieving our statutory mandate. Some of the challenges observed in the course of the review of reports from departments, units and zonal commands of the Agency are largely administrative and operational.
“The Agency requires adequate funding to effectively execute its day-to-day operational activities. More so, there is the need for vehicles for administrative and operational purposes. We are equally incapacitated in the areas of inadequate office structure, and funding for operations such as surveillance, raids operations, investigations, and activities leading to the prosecution of perpetrators of the Human Trafficking crime,” NAPTIP boss said.
She however assured the Minister of the determination of the Agency to continue to fulfil her mandates.
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