VZCZCXRO5061
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHOS #0202/01 1620713
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 100713Z JUN 08
FM AMCONSUL LAGOS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9937
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 9646
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 LAGOS 000202 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS TO DOJ, KYAMOAH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB KCRM KWMN PGOV PHUM SMIG SOCI NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: SOUTHEAST NAPTIP ZONAL OFFICE GROWING IN 
CAPACITY 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: In an April 15 meeting, the Director of the 
Southeast National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in 
Persons (NAPTIP) office told PolOffs child and infant trafficking to 
augment family size, obtain domestic help and for ritual purposes, is 
growing.  Revised adoption policies, passage of Child Rights Acts in 
four of the five Southeast states, and the establishment of family 
courts in Abia and Anambra have helped to combat trafficking.  The 
Southeast office's efforts to coordinate with other Nigerian 
government agencies on trafficking issues were among the better we 
have encountered.  End Summary. 
 
----------------------------- 
Child Trafficking on the Rise 
----------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Ijeoma Okoronkwo, Director of the Southeast National Agency 
for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) zonal office, 
told PolOffs on April 15 that child and infant trafficking in the 
Southeast fo the purposes of adoption, domestic work, and allegedly 
for use in rituals, is increasing.  Okoronkwo emphasized that the 
NAPTIP office's capacity to effectively handle the situation is also 
increasing as they become more aware of new trafficking trends. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Societal pressure on families to have children has caused an 
increase in infant and young child trafficking, especially to the 
Southwest, Okoronkwo said.  In addition, legal adoptions are free, 
adoption laws are complex and poorly understood, and many people who 
are not aware of this option also purchase children to add to their 
families to address the societal pressures, Okoronkwo stated.  The 
Ministry of Women's Affairs is reexamining current adoption policies 
and implementing adherence programs.  Okoronkwo also noted that local 
customs can blur the definitions of trafficking and exacerbate the 
cultural debate about anti-trafficking efforts.  Although 18 is the 
minimum age for domestic employees under Nigerian law, under local 
custom poor families often send their children as young as five to 
live with wealthier relatives or neighbors, making the distinction 
between domestic help and intra-family charity difficult to discern. 
Poverty and lack of awareness further exacerbate the conditions that 
allow trafficking to flourish, especially in rural areas, the main 
sector where victims come from.  As a result, economic empowerment 
for the rural areas is a priority for her office, Okoronkwo said, 
although she has no resources to dedicate to that effort.  In 
addition, community watches have been set up to detect and report 
trafficking, but more work needs to be done to draw local women's 
organizations into the anti-trafficking struggle, she stated. 
Okoronkwo concluded that until trafficking becomes a high risk and 
low profit venture, it will continue. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Four of the five southeast states (Ebonyi, Abia, Imo, and 
Anambra, excluding Enugu) have passed child rights legislation, which 
can be used to further protect underage trafficking victims by 
strengthening cases against traffickers and enforcing the rights of 
victims.  However, awareness of this law is low, said Okoronkwo.  The 
Ministry of Women's Affairs has convened a Child Rights Law 
Implementation Committee to help address these issues.  Family 
courts, another mechanism to protect underage victims and ensure 
speedy justice, have been established in Abia and Anambra.  In Enugu, 
the previous Assembly considered but did not pass Child Rights 
legislation before the end of the term.  The current Assembly may 
take up the matter this year, Okoronkwo said. 
 
------------------------------------ 
Southeast NAPTIP Growing in Capacity 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶5. (SBU) Established in June 2006, the Southeast zonal office, like 
other zonal NAPTIP offices, is hampered by inadequate and irregular 
funding, Okoronkwo told PolOffs.  Its eight investigators lack 
resources and face an increasing work load.  In December 2007, the 
office opened a shelter to house victims, and holding cells for male 
and female traffickers were refurbished.  The NAPTIP office provides 
counseling and vocational training for victims.  Since its inception, 
the office has received 60 reports of trafficking, investigated 42 of 
those, and obtained two convictions of those cases that went to 
court, Okoronkwo stated.  Six more cases are currently being tried. 
Current investigations involve hotels in Enugu and Abia that keep 
prostitutes on call for customers and a neonatal unit of a nearby 
hospital accused of selling babies. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Okoronkwo characterized NAPTIP's working relationship with 
the Ministry of Women's Affairs as good and said NAPTIP works well 
with the police, although the constant rotation of police leadership 
means it takes considerable effort to maintain that relationship. 
State-level stakeholder meetings occur quarterly, Okoronkwo claimed, 
although budget constraints limit the number of people who can 
participate.  The Ebonyi and Enugu stakeholders (police, state 
 
LAGOS 00000202  002 OF 002 
 
 
commissions, NGOs, and community leaders) are especially good at 
reporting to her, Okoronkwo stated, but Abia's stakeholders are more 
difficult to get together. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Comment: Although the newest of the NAPTIP zonal offices, 
the Southeast office appears have a  sophisticated approach to the 
region's particular trafficking patterns.  While poverty alleviation 
is a crucial part of addressing the issue, the office clearly lacks 
the resources to implement needed programs.  The Southeast zonal 
office's efforts to maintain good relationships with other government 
entities and stakeholders were better than many we have encountered. 
End Comment. 
 
This cable has been cleared by Embassy Abuja. 
HUDSON