sixty Nigerian human traffickers are facing prosecution in nine countries in Europe. The traffickers were arrested in Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, Ireland, Germany, Netherlands and Britain, following a major crackdown on traffickers in an operation tagged ‘Koovis’ which was coordinated by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons and Other Related Matters (NAPTIP).
Making this revelation, Mr. Warner Ten Cate, the National Prosecutor for Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Persons in the Netherlands, who is leading a ten-man team of investigators, prosecutors, immigration and police officers on a fact-finding mission to NAPTIP and other law enforcement organisations in Nigeria, said NAPTIP has shown tremendous courage and exemplary leadership skills which are hallmarks of law enforcement organisations in the world.
According to Cate, the period of the operation was a defining moment for NAPTIP as it has earned the reputation and recommendation of international law enforcement organisations all over the world.
Cate also said that NAPTIP’s exemplary achievement should stretch to other crimes like drug trafficking, as they are working with the Dutch Ministry of justice to effectively bring the criminals to justice. He promised the collaboration of Europol and Eurojust in tackling the crime of human trafficking.
Cate reiterated the fact that no singular organisation could fight criminal networks alone without cooperation, capacity to utilise each other’s comparative advantage, exchange of information, training of investigators and learning from best practices in the field of victim protection.
Lastly, he said the team was in Nigeria to explore avenue for good agreement on information exchange on criminal groups, how to access their illegally earned profit, capacity building and expand our cooperation to other Nigerian institutions through NAPTIP.
Responding, the Executive Secretary, Mrs. Carol Ndaguba, said the success of the operation was a good example for the rest of the world and other law enforcement organisations to emulate.
According to her, “as a law enforcement organisation we must support each other’s capacity with equitable information flow and technical know-how to operate as equals.
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