President Muhammadu Buhari has dismissed the Director-General of the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Senator Basheer Mohammed.
The director was fired less than four months after he was appointed head of the agency.
The NAPTIP boss’ dismissal was contained in a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu on Wednesday, who added that the president had approved Fatima Waziri-Azi as Mohammed’s replacement.
The president’s media aide revealed that Waziri-Azi’s appointment was based on the recommendation of the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouq.
According to Shehu, the minister expressed the “urgent need for the Ministry to intensify on the existing capacity in the NAPTIP in order to achieve its Key Result Areas as identified.”
He quoted Hajiya Sadiya as saying that the recommendation of Fatima Waziri-Azi was based on her “pedigree, vast experience and proven track record to drive the agency forward and consolidate on what has been achieved so far.”
The statement said the appointee was a former Head of Department of Public Law at the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, a Women’s Right advocate, a campaigner against domestic and sexual based violence and an expert in Rule of Law.
Mohammed had swapped his position as the Honourable Federal Commissioner for the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI) with the former Director General of NAPTIP, Mrs Imaan Suleiman Ibrahim, on May 27 2021.
