…NAPTIP: Assures training will equip intelligent officers with skills required to respond to emerging trends through intelligence-led policing
By Amina Aminu/Seun Adams
Spain through one of its public establishment: The Foundation for the Internationalisation of Public Administration (FIAP), project over the weekend concluded a four day capacity development on: ‘Strengthening Transnational investigative Cooperation’ for participants drawn from the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), and the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).
The training which further reinforced the relations between Nigeria and Spain reaffirmed their deep commitment and collaboration in combating trafficking in persons and migrant smuggling for prosecutors, investigators and intelligence officers of the different establishments.
At the opening ceremony, in Abuja, FIAP Project Team Director, Mr. Javier Leon, underscored that the workshop was aimed at strengthening cooperation between both countries in curtailing the human trafficking and the smuggling of migrants scourge.
The programme was bankrolled by the European Union (EU) and supported by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), came at the instance of the Support to Migration Governance in Nigeria, Component 3 project and implemented by the Spanish Government.
The Director admitted that although Nigeria and Spain were geographically distant, both countries shared migration routes, common security challenges and a responsibility to protect vulnerable people from criminal networks.
Spanish enforcement agencies, he added, had worked for years through intelligence sharing, joint investigations, and institutional partnership.
The workshop, he reinforced, will deepen professional relationships, promote the exchange of operational experience, and enhance international cooperation against transnational organized crime. Criminal networks operate across borders, and our response must do the same.
He said: “Together, we must build stronger institutions and a better future for our countries.”
The interior Attache at the Spanish Embassy, Mr. Luis Puig, in his remark, said Nigeria and Spain had built a strong partnership in tackling human trafficking and migrant smuggling based on a shared commitment to protecting human dignity.
He charged the officers and participants to actively engage with facilitators, exchange experiences, and maximize opportunities to strengthen their investigative capacity across both countries, adding that the training will further reinforce the longstanding cooperation between both countries.
The Foundation Project Officer for the Support of Migration Governors in Nigeria project, Mrs. Cayetana Bellisco, described FIAB as a Spanish public foundation under Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Union.
She said: “The foundation promoted peer-to-peer cooperation by enabling public institutions to share knowledge, practical experience, and solutions to common challenges.
She acknowledged that experts from Spain and Nigeria will work together over the next 4 days to strengthen investigative skills and build lasting institutional partnership.
Bellisco, reinforced that trafficking in personal and migrant smuggling required coordinated responses that go beyond national borders.
NAPTIP’s Head of Intelligence and International Cooperation Unit at NAPTIP, Mrs. Chineye Edoja, said human trafficking continued to evolve through new routes, methods with increasing deployment and use of cyberspace.
She however acknowledged that the training will equip intelligent officers with the skills required to respond to emerging trends through intelligence-led policing.
According to her, participants will examine a high-profile trafficking case jointly handled by Nigerian authorities and Spain that resulted in the conviction of a trafficker in the country.
She also disclosed that traffickers were continuously exploiting routes through Senegal to facilitate irregular migration to Europe.
The training, she admitted, will cover intelligence-led policing, financial intelligence, victim-centered investigations, and documents for detection.