The Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN has said that the underlying factors attendant to human trafficking, criminality and migration are issues of terrorism and corruption.
The Minister made this known at the meeting with an Italian delegation led by the Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Paolo Gentlioni Silveri last Thursday.
Comrade Salihu Othman Isah, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice disclosed in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja over the weekend.
Isah said the occasion was on the finalization of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen cooperation between the judicial systems between the two nations.
Malami who emphasized on the need for effective cooperation in order to reduce the incidents of human trafficking and other associated crimes, explained that unemployment in Nigeria had been a major cause of incessant migration of Nigerians to Italy.
He informed the Italian delegation that agreements between Nigeria and Italy had already been negotiated and was ready for execution in the following areas: Mutual Legal Assistance, Transfer of Prisoners and Extradition Agreements.
He therefore urged them to identify the timeline and venue for the execution of the agreements.
The Minister expressed appreciation to the Italian Government support to its Nigerian counterpart, in particular, as well as the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) requesting further assistance to strengthen NAPTIP skills and capacity.
In his response, the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Paolo Gentlinoni Silveri affirmed that they were perfectly aware of the connection between criminality, human trafficking and migration.
He advised that the Attorney General of the Federation could seize the opportunity to decide on the finalization of the agreements, on the three issues raised at the meeting.
He further stressed that they were in the Ministry to seek for collaborative efforts with Nigerian Government in the following areas: to strengthen political, economic relationship between Nigeria and Italy, the need to manage migration especially, migration through Nigeria to Libya and to Italy and also the need to control human trafficking.
