NIGERIA: REPORT ON TIP DEMARCHE

UNCLAS ABUJA 001839

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREF KCRM SMIG NI KREF
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: REPORT ON TIP DEMARCHE

REF: STATE 197722


1. (U) The Ambassador delivered reftel demarche to Minister
of Justice Akin Olujimi on November 1 at the Minister's
office. Also present were Dr. C. J. Amasike, Special
Assistant to the Minister, Carol Ndaguba, Executive
Secretary of the National Agency for the Prohibition of

SIPDIS
Traffic in Persons (NAPTIP),and Shadrach Haruna, Head of
Prosecution, NAPTIP. CongenOff served as notetaker.


2. (SBU) The Minister said Nigeria would have a good story
to tell regarding progress in combating trafficking in
persons for the interim assessment. He noted that a major
trafficking conviction is expected November 18 in Benin
State. He expressed gratitude for the longer-term strategy
to improve Nigeria's ranking.


3. (SBU) In a subsequent one-on-one meeting, the Minister
thanked the Ambassador for the specificity of both the
questions for the interim assessment and the recommended
actions of the longer-term strategy. He said, "We thought
we were doing so much, and we could not figure out what we
still needed to do." The minister was fascinated by the
list of Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 countries from the State
Department website. He said Nigeria could certainly reach
Tier 2 for the 2005 Trafficking in Persons Report. He added
that his goal was for Nigeria to be a Tier 1 country by the
time the Ambassador left Post.

CAMPBELL