Human trafficking, migrant smuggling threat to security, says IGP

The Inspector General of Police, Ag. IGP Mohammed Adamu has
decried the spate of human trafficking and migrant smuggling in
Nigeria.

The police boss said the menace has become a major internal
security challenge that poses grave threat to the victims and the
countries involved.

The IGP disclosed in Abuja on Monday at a workshop organised by
Interpol to counter trafficking in human beings and migrant
smuggling in Nigeria.

He said: “Nigeria and indeed the continent of Africa have been
experiencing a surge in the menace of trans-border trafficking in
persons and smuggling of migrants.

“These illegal activities do not only pose a threat to the
victims as individuals but also to the countries involved at both
ends.

“The Nigeria Police, working in collaboration with the National
Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) and
the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) have been at the forefront in
the fight against the menace.

“The Nigeria Police under my leadership shall continue to
support the two agencies while strengthening its institutional
capacity towards addressing the threat of human trafficking.”

Speaking on present and future efforts to curb the menace, Adamu
said: “The Nigeria Police raised the bar by upgrading the
Anti-Human Trafficking Section of the Force with the appointment of
a Commissioner of Police to head the Section.

“In addition to this, the Police have over the years, remained
faithful to the inter-agency framework of seconding police officers
to NAPTIP to support and enhance their investigative and
operational capacities towards attaining their anti-human
trafficking mandate.

“I can assure that these initiatives shall be sustained under my
leadership as the Inspector General of Police.”

He also promised to engage the Heads of NAPTIP and all other
strategic security agencies with mandate for managing human
trafficking and migrant smuggling with a view to strengthening
inter-agency collaborative efforts and exploring new pathways that
will advance the fight against the menace.

“In addition, I shall continue to deploy our unique intelligence
and operational assets and draw on my strong network with INTERPOL
to support this initiative, just as I will also be engaging with
international agencies and foreign development partners towards
achieving the goals of addressing the transnational crime of human
trafficking and migrants smuggling.

“These sets of actions are essential because human trafficking
and smuggling of migrants is an organized and transnational crime
which requires multi-agency and multinational collaborative
approach to effectively combat.”

Speaking on the impact of the menace, the Acting Head of
National Central Bureau, Deputy Commissioner of Police, DCP Lanre
Bankole said the fight against the scourge has proven difficult
because most victims are under serious threat and intimidation.

He said: “Fighting human trafficking and migrant smuggling has
been a challenging task because the victims were either
unsuspecting tools or were subjected to some forms of intimidation
and threats of violence with grave consequences to the victims.
This makes it difficult for victims to come forward and seek for
help.”

On how to combat it, Bankole said: “This challenge can be
mitigated through proactiuve policing of our borders, vigorous and
sustained synergy among stakeholders especially intelligence
gathering and sharing among other collaborative efforts.”

The workshop had in attendance participants from the Nigeria
Police, Nigeria Immigration Service, Nigeria Customs Service,
National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and
other relevant agencies.