HUMAN TRAFFICKING: FCT MINISTER CO-OPTS NAPTIP INTO FCT SECURITY COMMITTEE

The Honourable Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Malam

 Muhammad Musa Bello has co-opted the National Agency for the 

Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) into the FCT Security 

Committee in its effort to check human trafficking and allied crimes 

in the FCT.

The Minister who carried out this action when the Director General of

 NAPTIP, Dame Julie Okah-Donli led a delegation of officials from the

 Agency on a courtesy visit to the FCT Administration, said this became 

necessary in view of the security challenge trafficking in humans poses 

for the FCT.

He stressed that human trafficking involved criminal gangs which go

 hand in hand with drug pushers and other such crimes. In his words 

 “ once you see human traffickers, you see drug pushers and then you

 see commercial sex workers, you find out that it’s a clique that is

 intertwined and eventually it also transcend into criminality in form of

 pick pocketing,one chance and so on. All these are interrelated and

 that is why I feel that your organization can be coopted to serve in the 

FCT Security Committee”.

While commending NAPTIP for its fight against human trafficking, Malam 

Bello assured officials of the Agency that there were many possible 

areas of cooperation between FCTA and NAPTIP. He urged the Agency

 to work very closely with the Social Development Secretariat of the

 FCT under the supervision of the Honorable Minister of State.

On the request by the NAPTIP to revoke the titles of buildings used for

 human trafficking, the Minister said “we will revoke titles. As a matter 

of fact, we will equally demolish properties because for every property

 there is a specific land use and I have checked and there is no place

 where it is written that a property should be used for trafficking”.

Also speaking, the FCT Minister of state, Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu said that

 FCTA’s collaboration with NAPTIP will be fundamental in bringing about

 the needed sanity to the city and ridding the FCT of traffickers and their

 cohorts.

Speaking earlier, the NAPTIP DG called for a stronger partnership with the

 FCT Administration to push the campaign against human trafficking to all 

nooks and crannies of the FCT. She added that her organization had

 recorded tremendous success so far and would need the support of the 

FCTA to achieve more.

She said that while the Agency has taken enlightenment campaigns to 

schools and communities, a lot more needed to be done if the menace

 of human trafficking is to be stamped out.

She also called for the assistance of the FCT Administration in the

 enforcement of the VAPP (Violence Against Persons Prohibition) 

Act 2015 which she disclosed is domiciled with NAPTIP but applicable

 only in the FCT. Other states of the Federation she explained are 

enjoined to adopt provisions of the Act, adding that, so far, seven states

 have adopted it.

She further urged the FCT Administration to also revoke the Certificates

 of Occupancy for buildings used for trafficking in persons, forced 

prostitution and other similar crimes.

ANTHONY OGUNLEYE
CHIEF PRESS SECRETARY
31/10/2019
FCTA/OCPS/PR/68

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