LATEST DEVELOPMENT ON YERIMA’S CASE

The Executive Secretary of the National Agency for Prohibition of Traffic in Persons and Other Related Matters (NAPTIP) Barrister Simon Chuzi Egede said, the Agency has concluded thorough investigation on Senator Ahmad Yerima’s marriage saga. 

Speaking to some journalists today 6th July 2010 in Abuja, the Executive Secretary said that the available evidence we have gathered has established a prima facie case to prosecute the suspect for the offence of child marriage, which was conducted in Abuja.  It is pertinent to say that there is no evidence to establish sexual abuse or exploitation charges against the suspect to bring the case under the purview of NAPTIP. 

The Executive Secretary of the National Agency for Prohibition of Traffic in Persons and Other Related Matters (NAPTIP), Barrister Simon Chuzi Egede has commended the United Kingdom on their strong support and collaborative effort in combating the scourge of human trafficking, in Nigeria and West Africa. Egede who made reference to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) executed by Nigeria and United Kingdom government, said it has yielded the strengthening of law enforcement relationship between NAPTIP and United Kingdom Agencies such as SOCA and Metropolitan Police all working on anti human trafficking issues. 

The NAPTIP boss who made this statement while receiving the United Kingdom Minister on Crime Reduction, Mr. Alan Campbell at the Agency’s Headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria. He reassured the Minister of the readiness of the Agency and Nigeria government to continue to create condition that will disable human trafficking operations and activities in Nigeria and beyond. Earlier in his speech, the UK Minister on Crime Reductions, Mr. Alan Campbell lauded Nigerian efforts in combating the crime of human trafficking and urged it not to relent in the fight. He further stated that the United Kingdom would like to learn some things from Nigeria into their own system in combating the scourge.  Commenting also on the visit, the British High Commissioner in Nigeria, Mr. Bob Dewar lauded the Agency efforts in empowering the victims through skills acquisitions, which was brought to the fore in the major public awareness project in Benin- the race against human trafficking.

  NIGERIA has been upgraded from a Tier 2 list to a Tier 1 status by the United Sates government in its 2009 Annual Global Trafficking Report having met the minimum standards for the elimination of severe forms of trafficking”. The US Secretary of State, Mrs. Hilary Clinton said the effort of government of Nigeria is commendable and its cumulative achievement over the past few years to combat human trafficking has not been left unnoticed, she made this statement at the Department of States annual Trafficking in Persons report in a public event at Washington D.C Speaking during the press briefing, the Executive Secretary Barrister Simon Chuzi Egede congratulated the Federal Government for achieving this feat, by its strict compliance with the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking.

He however stressed the need for all involved in this fight to be mindful of the fact that the battle is far from being won, because the enemies of the Nigerian children are ever ready to deploy their arsenals of assault through any loophole either real or imagined. He emphasized the existence of a non-uniform level of ratification and implementation of the Palermo protocol amongst our neighbouring countries, which he said provided enabling environments for traffickers to criss-cross the region taking advantage of either lack of legislation or weak enforcement. 

Consequently, he noted that despite these shortcomings, the Agency has put in place measures that will beef up the pursuit and capture of these criminals: by improving the welfare policies of staff of the Agency, the opening of a seventh office in Maiduguri, and by developing a holistic approach to victim care and protection, which has received  approval by the Federal Executive Council and has been adopted as regional policy on Protection of Victims of human trafficking by the ECOWAS Committee of experts in Ghana in March this year.  The Executive Secretary also briefed the press on the convictions of eight traffickers in a space of seven days in a federal court in Jos, Ilorin, Uyo, Lagos and Sokoto respectively which he attributed to the joint collaboration of other law enforcement agencies in the country and the total support of the Honorable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, He reiterated the government’s dedication to eliminating this crime and called on all stakeholders, international organizations and destination countries to gird their loins for battle, because human trafficking is still a clear and present danger facing our country today.  In his closing remarks, the Naptip Boss stated that Naptip cannot and is not taking the credit solely, he commended the efforts of his predecessor and pioneer Executive Secretary of Naptip, Mrs. Carol Ndaguba and all staff of the Agency and acknowledged the support and contributions of all our partners like the police, immigration, Civil Defence Corp, the Nigerian Custom, Non Governmental Organization like WOTCLEF, idia Renaissance and above all the media for their support, and referred to this kind of achievement as a testimonial to fact of efficacy of our re-strategy in enforcement procedure, investigation, monitoring and prosecution.