NIGERIA: TIP TRAINING WELCOMED

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ABUJA 000770 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR G/TIP: V.ZEITLIN DOE FOR GEORGE PERSON DOJ FOR K.YAMOAH E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/23/2018 TAGS: PHUM PGOV KCRM KWMN NI SUBJECT: NIGERIA: TIP TRAINING WELCOMED REF: 07 STATE 169703 Classified By: Political Counselor Walter Pflaumer for reasons 1.4. (b & d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: In an interagency effort to combat trafficking in persons, the State Department Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking In Persons (G/TIP) awarded the Department of Justice (DOJ) International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP) a $125,000 grant to provide investigative training to Nigerian law enforcement agencies. Two representatives from ICITAP visited Abuja April 14 ) 19 and had separate meetings with the Nigeria Police Force (NPF),Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS),National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP),American Bar Association (ABA),United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC),Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC),and National Judicial Institute (NJI) to assess the current trafficking in persons situation in Nigeria with the goal of developing an appropriate training program to be implemented later in 2008. The Nigerian agencies welcomed the prospective USG training and provided suggestions, some quite specific, about areas in which they need training, including evidence gathering, interrogation techniques, and victim handling. Our interlocutors agreed that better coordination among all players is needed to better fight human trafficking in Nigeria. Many contacts also requested help obtaining additional resources, including funding for day-to-day operations. END SUMMARY. SPECIFIC TRAINING AREAS -------------- ¶2. (C) Contacts at NPF, NIS, NAPTIP, and other agencies all supported better coordination among the key players combating trafficking in persons. NPF is most frequently the first point of contact for internal trafficking, while NIS most often intercepts international and cross border trafficking. Once NPF or NIS determines that a situation is actually trafficking in persons, they pass the case to NAPTIP for further investigation and prosecution. It is then up to the judiciary to convict and sentence the perpetrators. Each of the agencies and institutions is an integral part of Nigeria's effort to curb trafficking; all of them agree that integrated training with all interested parties is the best way forward. ¶3. (C) Mrs. Saluna Mutuah, Acting Head of the NPF Anti-Trafficking Unit, eagerly described specific areas of investigative training her unit needs, specifically in the areas of detection, evidence collection, interrogation techniques, case management, report writing, and handling of victims. NAPTIP and NIS echoed Mutuah's requests and also requested training in counseling for officers so they would be better equipped to handle victims. Mr. A.O. Shaibu, NAPTIP Deputy Director for Prosecutions, said all investigating officers should receive gender and religious sensitivity training as well as instruction on how better to gain the trust of the victims, whose testimony is ultimately required for prosecution in Nigeria. ¶4. (C) Mr. Obi Agusiobo, a NAPTIP Legal Prosecutor, stressed the need for prosecutors and the judiciary to be included in TIP training, explaining that prosecutors need to understand the intricacies of TIP cases and be trained in how to present such cases to judges effectively in order to secure more convictions. Shaibu added that judicial training was also needed to enlighten judges on the nuances of TIP cases and to help them understand Nigeria's TIP law, which has only been in effect five years. National Judicial Institute Fellows, Mr. Gilbert Tor and Mrs. Hadiza Saeed, agreed that TIP-specific training would be a welcome addition to the Institute's current curriculum. They also offered to help invite appropriate judges to the DOJ training and provide guidance on training Nigerian judges have already received so as to help make the course most useful. ¶5. (C) Due to the many links between corruption, organized crime, and trafficking in persons, Mrs. Dagmar Thomas, UNODC ABUJA 00000770 002 OF 003 Country Representative, suggested including EFCC cadets in TIP training. Dr. David Wodi Tukura, Director of Training and Research for the EFCC, agreed it would be helpful if EFCC officers were educated about trafficking in persons and how it relates to financial crimes. He agreed that the criminal networks involved in trafficking people are most likely the same ones trafficking drugs and arms and involved with money laundering. (COMMENT: We believe that educating the EFCC on TIP could potentially improve Nigeria's ability to investigate and prosecute high-level "kingpins" of the trafficking rings, as they are often affluent Nigerians who are involved with other corrupt practices. NAPTIP, NPF, and NIS currently have only succeeded in investigating low-to-mid level traffickers due to limited capacity and resources. END COMMENT.) OTHER NEEDS -------------- ¶6. (C) In addition to their desire for training, all our Nigerian contacts repeatedly complained that they are hampered by limited resources, especially vehicles. Both Mutuah and Mr. Aondoaver Kuttuh, NAPTIP Deputy Director of Investigations, stressed the importance of vehicles to enable investigators to travel to collect evidence and to transport victims to testify. They also said that more computers, copy machines, and fax machines would improve their work. Additionally, both NPF and NAPTIP expressed interest in exchange programs, such as the IVLP program. (NOTE: Three of the senior NAPTIP officers we met were alumni of the IVLP Judicial Systems and/or TIP programs. All three lauded the experience and attributed their successes in part to their participation in the program. END NOTE.) Finally, our contacts requested training in asset and human resource management and a new TIP-specific curriculum for law enforcement officers that could be integrated into basic training. AREAS OF CONCERN -------------- ¶7. (C) Both NAPTIP and NPF were concerned about interagency collaboration and basic training. Although everyone we met with praised NAPTIP for the strides it has made, NPF officers feel they do not receive their share of the credit for anti-trafficking progress. Mutuah noted that NPF officers who first intercept a trafficking case, are never actually consulted by NAPTIP, even during the prosecution stage. Since NAPTIP has its own investigators, they re-investigate any case passed to them. However, NAPTIP prefers to use its own specialized investigators to prepare cases, since NPF officers lack training and investigative skills. When we asked to see the NPF basic training manual for police officers entering on duty, Mutuah was unable to locate the one copy she claimed to have, even after digging through many cabinets and shelves. Mutuah was also unable to provide any information on specific training officers receive upon joining the NPF Anti-Trafficking Unit. NAPTIP's Shaibu did acknowledge that NPF officers should receive more accolades for the work they do as they are the ones intercepting traffickers in action, but the lines of responsibility need to be more clear on both sides. TRAINING LOGISTICS AND DATES -------------- ¶8. (C) ICITAP would like to conduct an integrated training program with the first component taking place at border posts in Nigeria. (NOTE: This program would build upon USAID-funded training that ABA has provided at border posts. END NOTE.) The second component would take place in Abuja with continued investigative training as well as a combined prosecutorial/judicial program. ICITAP visited the EFCC Training and Research Institute just outside of Abuja as a possible location for the course. The Institute is a modern educational facility, offering large classrooms with projectors, flat screen TVs, computer work stations, and internet access. Keeping in mind that funding for the ICITAP grant expires on September 30, ICITAP is hoping to begin conducting training mid to late August with travel to the border posts. A key element of the overall training will be instructor development, or a train-the-trainer component to ABUJA 00000770 003 OF 003 help sustain the assistance after funding ends. As noted ref A, PolOff will attend and monitor the training programs once they have commenced and report on the progress and sustainability of the project. COMMENT -------------- ¶9. (C) COMMENT: GON officials responded eagerly to our offer of TIP training and demonstrated political will to use the training to good end. There are many Nigerian players who are working diligently to combat trafficking in persons, but they often duplicate efforts or miss opportunities due to lack of communication and collaboration between agencies. If this training program merely created a more cohesive working environment by getting different Nigerian agencies to work together in the same room for a few days, that would still be useful. There is, however, real potential that integrated training could lead to sustainable interagency cooperation in Nigeria and long term progress in combating trafficking. We hope to see the training rollout later this year and will report back on the successes and/or challenges encountered. END COMMENT. SANDERS