INTRODUCTION
Counselling and Rehabilitation department is one of the core departments in the Agency. In line with the Palermo Protocol, the department under section 9 subsection 3(a) and (b) of Trafficking in Persons Prohibition and law Enforcement Act 2003 as amended is entrusted with the rehabilitation and counseling of victims of human trafficking. The department is headed by a seasoned and astitute social worker of twenty eight years standing experience in social work practice. The department has seventy seven other staff members of varying degrees of professional experience. The department received a total number of 3050 victims from 2004-Dec 2008.779 are male while 2271 are female. Comprehensive information on victims’ affairs could be accessed in the department. The department collaborates with relevant government ministries and Agencies, NGOs and developmental partners in realizing its mandates. The department is divided into five sections with each section having distinctive roles to play in realizing the mandate of the department. The sections are -:

The Programme Management Section-: The functions of this section are: programme development, policy formulation, liaison with NGOs on various activities of the department. All issues on gender matters are also within the portfolio of the section

Rehabilitation Section is in charge of counseling of victims and rehabilitation programmes of the department. The section has rehabilitated 477 victims either by way of enrollment in school or by assistance to acquire vocational training. About 280 of those victims were also empowered with trade equipments and resettlement allowance to take care of personal needs for a short time. In addition, some victims are under-going training on Knitting, weaving, fashion design, hair dressing, catering, hat making, beads making and photography. Individual counseling, group counseling, career counseling family counseling and case conferencing are few of the methodologies employed in handling victims’ problems. Psychosocial therapy is also a major assignment of this section.{mospagebreak}

 Shelter management Section takes care of the day-to-day running of the shelter. Every victim admitted into the shelter is fed, clothed and provided with regular hygiene products. Sporting activities and physical exercise are within the portfolio of this section. Also, the victims are provided with basic knowledge in English Language, Social Studies, Mathematics, Personality Development and Health Education. The shelter management section operates seven shelters across the country with the capacity to accommodate the following number of victims at a time in each of the shelters: Abuja – 50, Lagos – 120, Benin – 50, Uyo – 50, Enugu – 50, Kano – 50, Sokoto – 50.

Medical unit is responsible for the medical welfare of the victims. Each of the seven NAPTIP shelters is attached with qualified medical personnel in charge of the Agency’s mini-clinics. Also the unit is working hand in hand with private hospitals and government hospitals to take care of complex, and emergency medical cases. Voluntary HIV test is administered on victims of sexual exploitation after medical counseling.

Coordination Unit coordinates and documents all the activities of the department. It collates and disseminates information about the department and its staff. Data and information relating to the victims are found in the unit. The unit also takes charge of the monitoring and evaluation aspect of the department.

National Policy on Protection and Assistance to Trafficked Persons: the department of Counselling and Rehabilitation has developed a policy for Protection and Assistance to victims of Human Trafficking in Nigeria. The policy has been approved by the National Executive Council. . It is a compendium of rehabilitation and re-integration programmes and available opportunities for victims. It also contains the rights and privileges of the victims as well as responsibilities of government departments and agencies in the welfare of victims. The ECOWAS countries have adopted the policy as an instrument for the sub region and have invited the Agency to a ministerial validation workshop to take place in Ghana in the month of March 2009.

 Challenges
• Inadequate funding for running the shelters, training and empowering the victims
• Lack of fund to empower the families of the victims.
• Unwillingness of victims to settle down in Nigeria in micro-enterprise after they had tested or promised hard currency abroad.
• Lack of fund to continuously monitor the victims in every part of the country.
• Inadequate professional training for members of staff.
• Lack of synergy with professional colleagues in other countries affected with human trafficking syndrome.