The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) on Monday said it had commenced joint operations with the Border Force of the United Kingdom to tackle human trafficking.
The NAPTIP’s Head of Press and Public Relations, Mr Josiah Emerole in a statement in Abuja said the operation had begun at the London Heathrow and Gatwick Airports.
Emerole explained that the team which comprised of male and female operatives arrived London weekend and commenced work immediately.
He said that their operations entailed helping to profile passengers, especially those of Nigerian origin with a view to identifying Potential Victims of Trafficking (PVoT), their traffickers and collaborators.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the British authorities in June approved joint operations between NAPTIP operatives and the UK Border Force at the two airports.
The exercise is aimed at ensuring random profiling of passengers, identifying PVoT and suspected traffickers.
The Spokesperson stated that the development was the outcome of some high level meetings in London between the Director-General of NAPTIP, Julie Okah-Donli and officials of the Home office of the United Kingdom.
The operation which will be for a short period will see the operatives of NAPTIP working side by side with the UK Border Force and other relevant agencies at the two gateways into the United Kingdom.
Emerole said that before their departure at the weekend, the operatives were admonished by the NAPTIP boss to be good ambassadors of the agency and Nigeria.
“They were advised to use the opportunity to showcase to the world the capacity of the agency’s personnel in carrying out operations anywhere in the world, in line with global best practices,’’ he said. (NAN)