How NAPTIP seized my passport, detained me for five days over alleged trafficking – Nigerian man

A Nigerian man has accused the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) of seizing his international passport and detaining him for five days over alleged human trafficking.

The man, Jude Okechukwu, spoke when he appeared on Berekete Family, a popular human rights broadcast station in Nigeria.

A video clip showing the man narrating the incident was uploaded on the station’s YouTube channel on Sunday.

How it happened

Mr Okechukwu hails from Olo, a community in Ezeagu Local Government Area of Enugu State, south-east Nigeria.

He said he landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Lagos State from Dubai on 23 April but was immediately arrested by operatives of the State Security Service (SSS).

The man said the SSS operatives later handed him over to operatives of the NAPTIP, who subsequently picked up his passport and told him he had been under a watch list.

He said the operatives told him he was placed on a watch list after three unnamed individuals in Abuja petitioned the agency, alleging that someone used his passport to facilitate the trafficking of an unidentified woman.

Mr Okechukwu said he was taken to the agency’s headquarters in Ikenga,Lagos State.

He said an unidentified female commander of NAPTIP asked the agency’s operatives who brought him to office to take him to another office in the state where he would write a statement.

The commander, he narrated, ordered the operatives to seize his passport, luggage and other documents and then release him on bail until further directives.

“We went there, after writing my statement, they (the NAPTIP operatives) told me that the woman (commander) said they should detain me.

“I told them that was not what the woman said in my presence. They replied that the woman said she got more evidence to detain me. When asked for the evidence, they showed me a copy of my passport and said it was used to facilitate the trafficking of a lady to Dubai.

“I responded that I had never done anything like that before. But they said they would detain me and decide what to do next when they get more information from Abuja,” he narrated.

“They (NAPTIP) detained me for five days in Lagos State and seized my phone.”

Mr Okechukwu said he later appealed to them to release his mobile phone so he could inform his family of the situation.

He said some of his family members arrived at the NAPTIP facility after he phoned them and helped to secure his bail which he said came with heavy conditions.

‘I can’t travel back to Dubai’

Mr Okechukwu said the agency released his luggage after seven days, but refused to return his documents and passport.

The man said he cannot travel back to Dubai where he stays because his passport has not been released.

“I only came back to Nigeria to spend two weeks and travel back (to Dubai). But they seized my passport and said I should be reporting in their office in Enugu. And that they will be giving me updates on the investigation,” he said.

He said, upon his arrest at the Lagos airport, NAPTIP operatives searched his mobile phone to check mobile numbers of his alleged accomplices which the agency claimed were submitted by the petitioners.
But they did not find such mobile numbers or anything incriminating, he stated.

The man said the agency later contacted an unknown Igbo man through another mobile phone and asked him to communicate with the man in Igbo language.

“They said I should ask the guy where he is in Nigeria. So, I asked the guy in my language after greeting him. He said he’s in Enugu,” he said.

Mr Okechukwu narrating the incident on the station

Mr Okechukwu said he was not shown a copy of the petition nor provided with the identities of the petitioners despite repeated requests.

Upon making the comment, Ahmed Isah, the anchor of the radio programme, informed him that his rights had been violated and that he should pursue the case to get adequate compensation.

“Who is your lawyer,” Mr Isah asked the man in Pidgin English.

“One Felix. He’s in Lagos,” the victim replied.

“Talk to him. If he can’t handle the case, we will give you a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) to take over the case,” the programme anchor, popularly known as ordinary president, stated.

SAN is the highest rank a lawyer can attain in Nigeria which is often conferred on individuals who have recorded giant strides in the legal profession in the country for a period of not less than 10 years.

READ ALSO: Tinubu appoints new heads for NAPTIP, six other agencies

NAPTIP speaks

The SSS has not spoken on the allegation. The secret police recently redeployed its spokesperson, Peter Afunanya, without announcing a replacement.

When contacted on Tuesday morning, the spokesperson of the NAPTIP, Zachariah Duada, confirmed the development.

Mr Duada told PREMIUM TIMES that Mr Okechukwu must have requested to be reporting to the NAPTIP office in Enugu.

He said the suspect could not have been compelled to report to the Enugu office if he was staying in Lagos or another state outside Enugu.

The spokesperson said the matter was still under investigation and that the agency would decide on the case.

“It is under investigation and they (NAPTIP authorities) have written for an opinion of the legal unit.

“Once the legal opinion is ready, they will invite him either to give him his documents and something. They will call him,” he said.

“But at the moment, NAPTIP is rounding off investigations. So, he (the man) should just wait a little.”