CHILD TRAFFICKING: CDHR’s NOTICE OF ITS INTENTION TO PETITION THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT OF JUSTICE (ICCJ) OVER RECURRING AND MALICIOUS ACT OF CHILD TRAFFICKING/ILLEGAL ADOPTION BY THE DELTA STATE GOVERNMENT
The is a notice of the Committee for the Defense of Human Right (CDHR) Delta State branch, of its intention to Petition the International Criminal Court of Justice (ICCJ) over recurring and malicious act of child trafficking/illegal adoption by the Delta State Government .
This Notice is predicated on the following grounds:
That the Committee for the Defence of Human Right (CDHR) Delta State branch has been watching with keen interest the unholy romance between the Delta State Government and the Director-General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffick-in-Persons (DG -NAPTIP) Julie Okah-Donli .
That the Committee for the Defense of Human Right (CDHR) Delta State branch is by this press statement calling for the immediate sack of the Director-General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffick-in-Persons (DG -NAPTIP) Julie Okah-Donli over aiding and abetting child trafficking and illegal adoption in Delta State.
The call and press statement was necessitated by the recent visit of NAPTIP’s Director- General, Julie Okah-Donli to the Government House Asaba for the inauguration of 17 man committee days after CDHR accused Delta State Government officials of child trafficking/illegal adoption .
That Julie Okah-Donli claimed that she and her team were in Asaba to seek the assistance of the Delta State Government to curb the twin menace of human trafficking and irregular migration was another gambit to boast the activities of child traffickers who are mainly government officials including the Delta Women Commissioner, Rev. Mrs Omatsola Williams and the Chief Judge of Delta State, Justice Marshal Mukoro who are currently being investigated by the Department of State Service(DSS) for child trafficking and illegal adoption.
That these government officials constitutes the cartel of child traffickers in Delta State and were same persons inaugurated by the Director- General of NAPTIP as members of the 17 man committee to curb the twin menace of human trafficking and irregular migration in the state.
That NAPTIP DG hides herself under the umbrella of fighting human traffickers and irregular immigration to re-energize child traffickers in Delta State.
That shockingly, the NAPTIP DG inaugurated Rev. Mrs Omatsola Williams , the Delta Women Commissioner as the secretary of the 17 man Committee after her public confession as a child traffickers which was published on Vanguard Newspaper of 18/8/2018
That NAPTIP cannot claim ignorance of the cries of Deltans over act of repeated child trafficking and illegal adoption being perpetuated by the Judiciary and the Women Affairs Ministry in the state since 2008 and the missing 50 family courts and 104 assessors sworn in by the Judiciary as announced by Chief Mrs Betty Efekhoda.
That DSS is investigating and in possession of some evidence which includes a copy of the official letter issued under the directive of the Delta Women Commissioner dated 12/5/18 for the trafficking of a child (name withheld) to certain persons described as Mr and Mrs “XY” pending adoption order, an extract of Vanguard online newspaper of 18/8/18 containing the information where Delta Women Commissioner, Rev. Mrs Omatsola Williams discloses that a total of 693 Adoption applications were received by her Ministry out of which 136 children were released from different approved orphanages to prospective parents by her, and the letter addressed to comrade Aghogho by the office of the Chief Registrar, High Court of Justice Asaba dated 20/5/18 with reference number CS.651/93 constituting an additional Family Courts in Delta State during the pendency of an ongoing National Judicial Council(NJC) investigation on the missing 50 family courts and 104 assessors in Delta State amongst others.
That it should be recalled that NAPTIP in a letter written to one of our comrade, Ighorhiohwunu Aghogho tagged Re: Trafficking and abduction of children by the Delta State Ministry of Women Affairs , Community and Social Development Asaba , gross violation of the trafficking in persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act 2015 and the Delta State Child’s Right Law dated 21st June 2016 with reference number NAPTIP/NLM/782/1 declined jurisdiction to investigate cases of child trafficking and illegal adoption .
That the letter reads at paragraph one as follows “ I am directed to refer to your letter dated 29th May 2016 on the above subject matter and to inform you that the alleged offences enumerated in your letter has nothing to do with human trafficking as they are breaches made against the State’s Child’s Right Act , relating to adoption of children , which are outside the mandate of NAPTIP “
That NAPTIP further misdirected itself to further refer the Petitioner, our comrade, at paragraph two of the said letter “to Petition the Delta State Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice and the State Commissioner of Women Affairs and Social Development as the alleged violations are infractions against the laws of Delta State, whereas these persons are some of the Delta State government officials who have been accused of illegal adoption and child trafficking.”
That the said letter which emanated from the office of NAPTIP at Abuja and signed by one Amugo Ijeoma Mary (Mrs) for the Acting Director General confirms the insalubrious romance of NAPTIP with the Delta State Government.
That the trafficking in persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act 2015 at section 13 provides: “All acts of human trafficking are prohibited in Nigeria. Any person who recruits, transports, transfers, harbours or receives another person by means of-threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of powers or position of vulnerability exploitation of that person commits an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of not less than 2 years and a fine of not less than N 250, 000.00”.
That when Julie Okah-Donli was appointed by President Mohammadu Buhari and assumed office as the Director –General of NAPTIP, a similar petition was brought before her notice and the petitioner was again referred to NAPTIP response in the letter dated dated 21st June 2016 with reference number NAPTIP/NLM/782/1 where NAPTIP declined jurisdiction to investigate illegal adoption in Delta State.
That investigation by CDHR’s child rights unit revealed that in other state and locations, NAPTIP has been arresting and prosecuting persons found to have indulged in an act of illegal adoption. For instance, the Punch newspaper of 23rd November 2018 reported that the Director –General of NAPTIP Julie Okah-Donli prosecuted four persons including Adeji Ogiri, Afonne Nwakocha, Ndukwe Henry and Obuito Onyema adding that they were sentenced by the Federal High Court in Makurdi for abduction and illegal adoption of a four year old child. They were arrested by officers of the Department of State Service (DSS) for the abduction and attempted sale of the victim and handed over to NAPTIP.
That Okah –Donle further advised anyone intending to adopt a child to go through the legal processes in order to avoid falling foul of the law or cause another parent severe emotional and mental pain by buying an abducted child in gross violation of Section 1392), 21 and 27 the trafficking in persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act 2015, it is a crime to abduct, transport, receive or harbour a victim of human trafficking. Then, why is NAPTIP not enforcing this law in Delta State?
That we dare NAPTIP to deny the fact that orphanages and their managers in Delta State through the officials of the ministry of Women Affairs, the commissioner and the chief Judge have not abducted, transport, receive or harboured victims of child trafficking to the knowledge of NAPTIP and NAPTIP did nothing about it?
That every year 300,000 children are taken all around the world and sold by human traffickers as slaves and that 17,000 of those children are brought to the United States.
That the Trafficking of children has been internationally recognized as a serious crime that exists in every region of the world and which often has Human Rights implication.
That the main international documents dealing with the trafficking of children are the 1989 U.N. convention on the Rights of the Child, the 1999 I.L.O which Nigeria is a signatory and child trafficking and illegal adoption is a crime against humanity which falls under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court of Justice(ICCJ) to investigate and prosecute.
Signed
Comrade (Dr) Prince Kehinde Taiga
State Chairman,
Committee for the Defence of Human Right (CDHR)
Delta State Branch
