Nigerian trafficker to serve 13 years imprisonment in Italy

Following her extradition to Italy for the crimes of human trafficking, exploitation for prostitution, slavery and abetting unlawful migration, a Nigerian, Charity Omoruyi, also known as ‘Jeff Joy’ is set to spend a 13-year jail term imposed on her by the court of Ancona in Italy.

Daily Trust Sunday reports that collaboration between the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), the Department of State Services (DSS), the Federal Ministry of Justice (FMOJ) and the Italian authorities, led to the successful extradition of Omoruyi.

It would be recalled that the judgement delivered by the Court of Assizes of Appeal of Ancona in June 2012 convicted Omoruyi in absentia for her crimes of human trafficking and she was sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Omoruyi fled to Nigeria after a warrant for her arrest was issued and she was put on INTERPOL Red Notice.

Omoruyi’s extradition to Italy on March 8, 2023 was facilitated by Article 12 of the Extradition Treaty between the Government of the Italian Republic and the Federal Republic of Nigeria signed in Rome in November 2016.

Commenting on the development, the director-general of NAPTIP, Professor Fatima Waziri-Azi, expressed satisfaction with the process that led to the arrest and eventual extradition of the trafficker, adding that the agency would continue to partner with all concerned in the fight against human trafficking in Nigeria and other parts of the World.

Prof Waziri-Azi thanked the director-general of the DSS, other partnering law enforcement agencies and the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, for their collaboration with NAPTIP in the operation.