Reparation and Compensation for Victims of Trafficking
Paper Presented by Mrs. Beatrice Jedy -Agba,
Executive Secretary, NAPTIP
At the
Regional Consultation on the Right to an Effective Remedy for
Trafficked Persons
Thursday 21 November 2013,
Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, Nigeria
1
PRESENTATION OUTLINE
Introduction
The Nigerian Regulatory Framework for
TIP
Remedies Available to TPs in Nigeria
The Nigerian Experience: Good Practices
Challenges
Recommendations
Conclusion
INTRODUCTION
The Draft Basic Principles on the right to
an effective remedy for trafficked persons
is a welcome development
 Providing effective remedies for trafficked
persons (TPs) is an important
aspect of
combating human trafficking.
 Nigerian Legal framework drawing inspiration
from the Constitution recognises that the state
has moral obligation to protect its citizens and
non-citizens within its territory.

The Nigerian Regulatory Framework For
Trafficking in Persons(TIP)



The Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Law Enforcement
and Administration Act (TIPPLEA) 2003 as amended
provides extensively for the protection of trafficked
persons.
With the passage of the TIPPLEA 2003 and the
establishment of NAPTIP the Nigerian Government put
in place effective measures for protecting trafficked
persons.
The provisions of the TIPPLLEA ensures that TPs,
Nigerian and non- Nigerian citizens are free from
discrimination and have access to protection services .
The Nigerian Regulatory
Framework for TIP Contd.
Overall the Nigerian law recognises the need not to
criminalise TPs, respect their privacy, provide temporary
residency, appropriate housing, protect them and
members of their families and punish those responsible
for human trafficking.
 It also provides for civil remedies for victims through
which they can obtain compensation.
 Proposed amendment of the Law seeks to make
provision for TPs to be awarded compensation from
convicted traffickers as part of the trafficker’s sentence.

Remedies Available to TPs in
Nigeria
Identification and Rescue
 Sheltering
 Access to counselling services including psychosocial
counselling and support,
 Access to medical and independent legal support
 Family Tracing
 Return and Repatriation
 Educational Support
 Economic Empowerment

Remedies Available to TPs in Nigeria
Contd.
Investigation of trafficking cases
 Prosecution of traffickers
 Conviction of traffickers
 Confiscation of assets of traffickers for
use in assisting TPs

The Nigerian Experience: Good
Practices
Establishment of
9 Transit Shelters with skill
acquisition facilities across the country.
 Collaborates with stakeholders such as Ministry of
Women Affairs and Social Development as well as CSO
stakeholders for TPs to have access to other standard
shelter facilities in Nigeria where needed.
 Over 6000 TPs provided with rehabilitation and
reintegration assistance ( a form of compensation and
reparation)
 Successful conviction of over 200 traffickers serving
various jail terms

The Nigerian Experience: Good
Practices Contd.



Securing the closure of commercial sex centres, used
for exploitation of victims
A National Policy on Protection and Assistance to
Trafficked Persons to guide stakeholders in providing
uniform and quality assistance to victims of trafficking
was developed by NAPTIP and approved by the Federal
Government in 2008.
The Policy document has been adapted and ratified by
ECOWAS for use in the sub region as a standard
operating document for the rehabilitation and
reintegration of TPs.
The Nigerian Experience: Good Practices
Contd.
Finalising with input from stakeholders; a National
Referral Mechanism document (NRM).
 The general principle of the NRM is to ensure that
every trafficked person (TP) is empowered, supported
and protected with a view to ensuring that he/she is
effectively rehabilitated and reintegrated.
 Initiated the Victims of Trafficking Trust Fund (VTTF) to
provide humanitarian and financial aid for victims of
trafficking.
 Funding for the VTTF is obtained through direct grant
from the Nigerian Government, voluntary contributions
of NAPTIP partners and confiscated assets of traffickers.

The Nigerian Experience: Good
Practices Contd.



Partnership with the National Planning Commission
and the National Economic Council to mainstream TIP
issues into developmental planning.
NAPTIP runs robust and innovative awareness
campaigns to sensitize the general populace on issues
relating to TIP.
In addressing human trafficking, NAPTIP pays attention
to its root causes and predisposing factors, which are
often multi faceted and include economic, social and
cultural aspects in order to provide appropriate
advisory services to the Nigerian Government.
The Nigerian Experience: Good
Practices Contd.
Partnership with Government Welfare programmes,
National Directorate for Employment, Small and
Medium Enterprises Development Agency, National
Poverty Eradication Programme and National Economic
Reconstruction Fund etc has led to increased resources
for socio-economic reintegration of TPs including access
to loans.
 The
Federal Government has approved the
mainstreaming of the National Gender Policy.
 The National Policy on Child Labour and the National
Action Plan for the Elimination of Child Labour in
Nigeria (2013-2017) has been approved by the Federal
Government.

Challenges to Providing Effective
Remedies for TPs
Limited Financial resources
 Challenges of prosecuting TIP cases(nationally and
internationally, varying jurisprudence in matters of
mutual cooperation in investigation, burden of proof
required, absence of TP’s testimony/TPs usually
unwilling to testify)
 Reluctance of VoTs to access civil remedies
 Xenophobia against Nigerians in transit and destination
countries

Recommendations
The Draft Basic Principles should focus on
 Ensuring that State Parties put in place mechanisms and
procedures to enable TPs access compensation rather
than placing on them a burden that will be unrealistic in
practice.
 Encouraging States to undertake more joint crossborder investigations to ensure that any source of
wealth attributable to human trafficking is discovered
and used for compensation to the victim(s) of the
trafficker(s) and for supporting other counter trafficking
interventions.
Recommendations Contd.

On the issue of appropriate housing, the Principles
should qualify this to mean accommodation suitable for
the dignified and safe rehabilitation and reintegration of
TPs so as to avoid a situation where TPs begin to
request for accommodation which may be too
expensive for State Parties to provide in the face of
competing national priorities.
Recommendations Contd.
An additional question to consider is the impact of
singling out TPs for such support whether there are
victims of other heinous crimes. What if they seek
similar remedies? Will the government be able to meet
these needs?
 Experience has also shown that traffickers have in the
time past infiltrated and manipulated protection system
for TPs and care must be taken not to provide more
opportunities for them to go scot free after exploiting
victims.
 Civil society organizations and other stakeholders
should also have the capacity to adequately protect TPs.
This will help to address any gaps in government
funding.

Recommendations Contd.


Emphasis should also be on proper identification of TPs.
This is based on the fact that upon the interception of a
possible trafficking case it is not usually easy to
determine whether a person is a trafficked person and
traffickers have also been known to pretend to be
victims in order to exploit the system,
On the issue of not making victim’s collaboration with
LEAs a condition for providing protection assistance the
Nigerian law recognises this right. However, in practice
we have noticed that being aware of this right available
to them under the law, TPs often times show no
commitment, even where they can, to supporting
investigation of their traffickers.
Recommendations Contd.


Therefore we are of the opinion that the Principle
should attempt to provide incentives for victims who
support criminal investigations. This could also add to
building confidence of VoTs for long term social
inclusion, giving them power and not just seeing them as
victims which is also one of the proposals of the Draft
Basic Principles. If they will be restored, it starts with
fighting back.
Some TPs themselves being conversant with the law
manipulate it and in view of the popular Stockholm
Syndrome we should do our best to discourage
situations where victims begin to empathise with
traffickers without in any way derogating from their
rights.
Recommendations Contd.


Note too that the Draft Basic Principles is a public
document and can be accessed by traffickers
themselves, hence the need for caution in its provisions.
NAPTIP has been privileged to have a survivor of
trafficking who had been empowered to start a new life
testify at an experience sharing event. When asked if she
is not afraid of reprisal attack from her traffickers she
responded to the contrary. In her own words, “if I have
any opportunity to come in contact with them they
owe me and should be afraid of me.” Through this and
many other success stories NAPTIP is not in doubt of
the resilience that can be seen in TPs with the right
support.
Recommendations Contd.

The Draft Basic Principles should therefore balance the
need for States to also have resources to adequately
prevent
human
trafficking
with
demanding
compensation from them to TPs.

The Principles focuses on rights of victims and
obligations of states. What of obligations of victims?
(Experience of violence and destructive attitude from
VoTs, Victims abandoning reintegration projects after
being empowered)
Recommendations Contd.


care must be taken in interpreting of the proviso under
9(a)(iii),“Gain access to compensation from the
State for injuries and damages.”
The reason is that in practice it may be unrealistic to
assume that all states are in a position to meet this
obligation and this could give rise to endless litigation
from TPs and even traffickers posing as victims thereby
defeating the very essence of the TIP Protocol. In
addition we are also proposing that it is not tied to
9(b)and (i) of the principles.
Thank You