FG Proposes Seven-Year Jail Term for Child Traffickers

The Federal Executive Council has proposed between five and seven years jail term for anybody found guilty of child trafficking in the country.

The punishment is part of the provisions of the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition), Enforcement and Administration Bill, 2012 presented to the council by the Minister of Justice, Muhammed Adoke (SAN), at its meeting presided over by President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday.

The government also blacklisted a construction firm, EC Oba Industrial Company Limited, for putting up a structurally defective building.

The firm was involved in the construction of the Nigerian Navy building which collapsed in Abuja on January 28, 2012.

Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, briefed State House correspondents on the outcome of the Wednesday meeting.

Maku was joined at the briefing by his colleagues, Ama Pepple (Housing); Ruqqayatu Rufai (Education); Bolaji Abdullahi (Sports); Edem Duke (Tourism); Olusola Obada (State, Defence) and Yerima Ngama (State, Education).

On the trafficking in persons bill, Maku said the Federal Government decided to tighten the noose around the culprits because the crime had become a national embarrassment to the country.