US embassy cable - 03ABUJA1916

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 001916 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
 
DEPT FOR G/TIP 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM, KWMN, NI 
SUBJECT:  NEW RESOLVE TO FIGHT TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS 
 
 
1. (SBU) Summary:  A sudden surge in Nigerian law 
enforcement efforts against child trafficking has drawn 
greater attention to the  magnitude of this problem in the 
region while also reflecting improved political will to 
crack down on trafficking crimes in general.  End Summary. 
 
 
Rescue, Repatriation of Trafficked Beninese Children 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
 
2. (SBU) Nigerian Police in three separate actions in 
September and October raided stone quarry work camps in the 
Southwestern states of Oyo, Ogun and Osun, discovering a 
total of 310 Beninese boys, ages 4 through 15, held in slave- 
like conditions and forced to break rocks at these quarries. 
According to Mrs. Elizabeth Akinmoyo, the Special Assistant 
to President on Human Trafficking, the rescues of these two 
groups of children are the product of a Memorandum of 
Understanding signed between Nigeria and Benin on August 14. 
This agreement allows for the sharing of intelligence and 
joint law enforcement operations against human traffickers 
and other crime groups operating across the border. 
 
 
3. (SBU) In addition the rescue and return of the Benin 
boys, six Beninese traffickers responsible for the 
children's enslavement were arrested and extradited to 
Benin, according to press reports. (Comment:  this is a 
casual use of the term "extradition" as the traffickers did 
not go through any formal judicial proceedings.  End 
Comment) 
 
 
New Anti-Trafficking Agency Taking Shape 
---------------------------------------- 
 
 
4. (SBU)  Nigeria's new federal anti-TIP act, signed into 
law by President Obasanjo on July 14, 2003, creates an Anti- 
Trafficking Agency to enforce the law's provisions.  In 
September the President appointed Mrs. Carol Ndaguba as the 
first head of the "National Agency for Prohibition of 
Traffic in Persons (NAPTIP)."  In an October 13 meeting with 
POLOFF, Ndaguba described her plans for the Agency.  After 
obtaining an initial allotment of funds necessary to house 
the Agency in permanent quarters, she will focus on staffing 
the Investigations and Legal/Prosecution divisions with 
investigators seconded from the Police and Prosecutors from 
the Ministry of Justice. 
 
 
5. (SBU) The former Director of Public Prosecutions in the 
Ministry of Justice, Ndaguba has emphasized the need for the 
fledging Agency to develop a clear lead on all law 
enforcement investigations and prosecutions of TIP crimes. 
In an October 29 meeting with POLOFF and RNLEO, she stated 
that she intends to push the Police and Immigration Service 
to move their existing (and competing) anti-TIP units to the 
new Agency, though she acknowledged there will likely be 
some resistance over turf issues. 
 
 
New Presidential Advisor on TIP 
------------------------------- 
 
 
6. (SBU) In a separate meeting, President Obasanjo's newly 
appointed Special Assistant for Human Trafficking, Elizabeth 
Akinmoyo, described her plans to centralize the GON's anti- 
TIP efforts through her office's effective coordination of 
policy and programs.  She will also seek  to coordinate 
disparate foreign assistance projects through her office, 
using an existing donor coordination committee among UN 
agencies towards this goal.  Akinmoyo asked and received 
from POLOFF a list of USG-funded efforts in Nigeria.  She 
expressed a desire to work closely with the Embassy in 
designing future projects.  A particular coordination 
project she is now tackling is the need to consolidate law 
enforcement efforts currently spread out among police and 
immigration units under the authority and control of the new 
NAPTIP, a task she claims she will accomplish through the 
President's intercession. 
 
 
 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
 
7.(SBU) Nigeria's anti-TIP efforts appear to be growing, 
thanks to strengthened political will to tackle this serious 
problem -- shown through the July passage of Nigeria's TIP 
law -- and to assistance from the USG and other donors. 
The new agency appears to be under good management and 
enjoying strong support from the new Presidential assistant. 
Its effectiveness in prosecuting traffickers will take time 
to develop; a key factor will be whether the NAPTIP can 
recruit and develop a core of dedicated investigators and 
prosecutors who can be trained on anti-TIP crimes and 
investigations. 
 
 
MEECE