High Profile Human Traffickers To Face Tougher Time, Says NAPTIP DG

The new Director-General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Dr. Fatima Waziri-Azi, has vowed to go after high profile human traffickers in the country.

This is contained in a statement signed by Mr Vincent Adekoye, for the Head, Press and Public Relations unit of the agency in Abuja on Tuesday.

Waziri-Azi made this known shortly after taking over as the new Director-General from Senator Basheer Muhammed.

“NAPTIP will redesign its operational strategies and embrace the involvement of wide spectrum of stakeholders in the fight against human trafficking in the country,” she said.

Waziri-Azi lauded the management and officers of the agency for its modest achievements in the areas of arrest, rescue, prosecution and awareness creation.

She said that the negative narrative about Nigeria as a source, transit and destination for human trafficking must be changed.

She stated that, “I am not here as your director-general to rock the boat; rather, I am here to join hands with you and ensure effective coordination of the fight against human trafficking in the country.

“We all must re-strategise and change the negative perception and narratives about Nigeria as the source, transit and destination for human trafficking.

“Under my stewardship, we shall increase our effort and ensure arrest and prosecution of high profile individuals involve in human trafficking, domestic violence and other related offence.

“We must go after the heads of those trafficking syndicates and root them out of Nigeria. We will follow the money that is classified as proceeds of those illicit trades and bring all the culprits to book.”

Responding, the outgone director-general, Muhammed, outlined his visions when he resumed as NAPTIP boss on June 18.

Part of the agenda outlined by the former director-general, he said, is the expansion of the existing sheltering facility in order to accommodate a large number of victims.

Waziri-Azi was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari on September 8. She is the seventh director-general of the agency since it was created in July 2003 by President Olusegun Obasanjo government.