US embassy cable - 04ABUJA1373

UNCLAS ABUJA 001373 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR G/TIP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SMIG, PHUM, KCRM, KWMN, ELAB, NI, HUMANRIGHTS 
SUBJECT: HEAD OF TRAFFICKING AGENCY DISCUSSES NIGERIAN 
ANTI-TIP EFFORTS 
 
REF: ABUJA 573 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED.  NOT FOR PUBLICATION ON THE 
INTRANET OR INTERNET. 
 
1.  (SBU) Summary.  In a courtesy call on the Ambasador, 
Nigeria's anti-trafficking agency discussed its work during 
its first year of existence, gave the status of two 
prosecutions underway in Kano, described the horrors of the 
overland trafficking in persons (TIP) route north through the 
Sahara, and talked of the difficulty of winning trafficking 
convictions.  Lacking any high-profile convictions or even 
prosecutions, the agency is fighting an uphill battle.  End 
Summary. 
 
2.  (U) On the morning of August 4, the Ambassador received a 
courtesy call from three officials from the National Agency 
for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP): 
Executive Secretary Mrs. Carol Nduguba, Head of Public 
Awareness Mr. Arinze Orakwue, and Head of Prosecution Mr. 
Haruna.  The request for the NAPTIP courtesy call arrived 
from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs the day after Mrs. 
Nduguba missed a meeting of NAPTIP officials with G/TIP and 
AF/W officials in July. 
 
3.  (U) The NAPTIP team began by listing Nigeria's successes 
against TIP.  Nigeria is the only country in Africa with a 
specific law against TIP, they said, and a specific agency 
set up to fight it.  Mrs. Ndaguba went on to discuss many of 
the same things the NAPTIP staff had discussed with the G/TIP 
team on July 23. 
 
4.  (SBU) Mrs. Ndaguba mentioned that NAPTIP's one-year 
anniversary would be August 8, but due to scheduling 
problems, they expected to have a ceremony in October 
instead.  She invited the Ambassador to the ceremony, and he 
accepted. 
 
5.  (U) While the discussion covered much of the same ground 
as previous talks with different officials in different 
settings, there were some noteworthy items.  For example, 
Mrs. Ndaguba discussed the role of Kano, in northern Nigeria, 
as both a route and a resource for trafficking overland, 
through the Sahara, to Morocco and on to Spain.  She 
described the Sahara crossing as nightmarish, with repeated 
rapes common, and a survival rate of 5-6 members out of a 
group of 30 not unusual. 
 
6.  (U) Mrs. Ndaguba also talked about two prosecutions 
underway in Kano, along with the difficulty of pursuing TIP 
cases.  In order to win convictions, courts require the 
testimony of the trafficking victims, who often would rather 
not be repatriated to Nigeria.  Nigerian law provides for 
very few non-bailable offenses, so the two wealthy defendants 
in the Kano cases were both quickly released on bail. 
 
7.  (U) Also, victims are intimidated by juju, an indigenous 
religious practice.  "Juju men," self-appointed witch 
doctors, swear the trafficked persons to oaths of silence, 
the violation of which would result in disease, disfigurment, 
death, or some other dire outcome.  Mr. Haruna said that one 
juju man had been arrested, but it was very difficult to 
convince victims to violate their juju oaths and testify. 
 
8.  (SBU) Comment.  While the NAPTIP team seems sincere and 
motivated, there are persistent rumors of senior state 
government officials' involvement in TIP.  If NAPTIP were to 
bring forward a high-profile case against a senior official, 
it would have a major impact in public awareness of the 
issue.  End Comment. 
CAMPBELL