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.

 SPEECH BY THE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF NAPTIP, BAR. SIMON CHUZI EGEDE, ON THE RELEASE OF ANNUAL TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT BY THE US DEPARTMENT OF STATE.

PROTOCOL

                 It is with great pleasure and honour that I welcome you to NAPTIP today for this press briefing. Prior to the existence of this Agency, the US government through its passage of the 2000 Trafficking Victim Protection Act as amended, demanded US Secretary of States to submit an annual global report on human trafficking to their congress. The objective is actually to stimulate action and grow partnership geared towards the elimination of the scourge of human trafficking in the world.

 2.             As a result of this, countries were assessed based on standards set forth in the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons. These standards have been expanded by NAPTIP to include rehabilitation and reintegration of victim back into the society.  In the annual report, countries are assigned and rated according to tiers 1-3, depending on the degree of compliance to the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking.

 3.             Upon emergence in 2003, our country Nigeria was on Tier 2 Watch list. This meant lack of compliance with the minimum standard and lack of adequate legislation criminalizing the act, corruption amongst enforcement officers, lack of assistance to victims and no political will to stamp out the scourge.

 4.             In the 2005 Report, the country was removed from Tier 2 Watch list to Tier 2, which indicated palpable effort at compliance with those minimum standards. The country has remained in Tier 2 Watch list since then.

 5.             Gentlemen of the Press and worthy Stakeholders, the US department of State has released the 2009 Annual Global Trafficking Report, which has elevated Nigeria to Tier 1.

6.             Coming hot on the heels of my first hundred days in office as the Executive Secretary of the Agency, we celebrate this testimonial of an independent assessor to our effort, both as a people, and as an agency.  The implication of this elevation is that the Government of Nigeria fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.