29/09/2020
A-TIPSOM has supported the Nigerian government in the review and updating of two important documents for the protection and rehabilitation of victims
Representatives of Nigerian Institutions
The Nigerian government, in association with the A-TIPSOM project, continues to strengthen protection for victims of trafficking and regular migration. Specifically, the project has supported two important strategic and operational planning instruments with technical, logistical and financial assistance – the validation process of the National Policy on Protection and Assistance to Trafficked Persons in Nigeria (NPPATPN) and the Protocol for Identification, Safe Return, and Rehabilitation of Trafficked Persons.
Both instruments have been managed by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP). In 2008, the Nigerian agency drew up the National Policy on Protection and Assistance to Trafficked Persons in Nigeria, used throughout the country to ensure the implementation and evaluation of all protection and assistance services, one of the purposes of which is to guarantee the uniformity of these services in a politically and administratively decentralized state like the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
This policy, which had not been evaluated or updated since its drafting, has now been assessed and brought up to date within the framework of the FIIAPP project in delegated cooperation with the European Union. This review is seen as essential to the success of supporting and assisting victims of trafficking.
After a number of FIIAPP-organised work sessions, in which the main institutions involved in the fight against human trafficking and in the protection of its victims in Nigeria took part, the new NPPATPN was approved. The next step will be its submission to the Federal Executive Council, Nigeria’s highest decision-making body, for adoption.
A fundamental element in combating trafficking and supporting victims is the identification, safe return and rehabilitation of victims. In 2018, NAPTIP prepared a draft Protocol for this exact purpose.
From a cooperation point of view, through this Protocol NAPTIP is seeking an agreement that helps to improve and facilitate collaboration with the transit and destination countries of Nigerian victims, in order to improve the investigation and prosecution procedures for trafficking offences. This document is now ready for presentation to the Federal Executive Council for approval and adoption as a national protocol.
The capabilities of the Nigerian Police (NPF), particularly those of the Anti-Trafficking and Visa Fraud Unit, have also been strengthened with the use of computer systems for the investigation of cases of human trafficking, making a satisfactory country-wide adoption of both documents possible.
