A/HRC/41/46/Add.1 protection of trafficked persons, and it mainly focuses on trafficking for sexual purposes at the expense of trafficking for labour and other forms of exploitation. Domestic legal framework: state level 30. Both the Nigerian Criminal Code, covering the southern states of Nigeria, and the Penal Code, applied in the northern states, cover trafficking in persons. 31. The Criminal Code outlaws a number of conducts and acts that may amount to trafficking, such as the procurement of women and girls for prostitution (section 223), and it also specifically criminalizes “ordeal, witchcraft, juju and criminal charms”, which are intrinsically related to trafficking (sections 207–2013). 32. The Penal Code recognizes trafficking in women as an offence, with special provisions according to the age of the victim. In general, there are stronger provisions against offences related to human trafficking in the Penal Code than in the Criminal Code and while the latter treats some of those offences as mere misdemeanours, the Penal Code categorizes them as felonies and provides for stricter punishments. For example, under section 276 of the Penal Code, a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine exist for anyone convicted of encouraging the prostitution of women and children and it is an offence to import into northern Nigeria a girl under the age of 21 for prostitution. 33. The Penal Code prohibits the trafficking of women into Nigeria, but does not deal with the trafficking of women from Nigeria abroad. It also prohibits forced labour and imposes a penalty of imprisonment for a term that may extend to one year or a fine, which might not be a sufficient deterrent for this lucrative crime. 34. At State level, another noteworthy recent development is the Edo State Trafficking in Persons Prohibition Law, adopted in May 2018, which criminalizes, among other acts, the procurement or recruitment of persons for sexual exploitation or forced labour and the employment of children under the age of 12 years as domestic workers. The Special Rapporteur also commends the criminalization of the procurement and recruitment of persons for the purpose of organ removal. 35. The fact that Nigeria is one of the first African countries to enact specific antitrafficking legislation is noticeable. Yet even the most innovative legislation remains a dead letter if it is not seriously and strongly enforced. Throughout her visit, the Special Rapporteur noted that key challenges remained in the implementation of the law. Implementation and enforcement are proportionally linked to the capacity of the various institutions, including law enforcement agencies and the judiciary, to exercise their mandate and functions in relation to the fight against trafficking. In that regard, the Special Rapporteur is convinced that a lack of resources, training and equipment for the various public offices involved in the fight against trafficking are important obstacles to robust implementation and enforcement. B. Policy framework 36. The Federal Government of Nigeria has established policies related to trafficking and child labour, including its worst forms, such as the national policy on protection and assistance to trafficked persons (developed by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and approved by the Federal Government in 2008), the national referral mechanism for protection and assistance to trafficked persons and its guidelines (launched in August 2017 by the Agency with support from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) and the strategic plan for the period 2012–2017 of the Agency, which provides a framework for mobilizing it and all the stakeholders involved in combating human trafficking within Nigeria and internationally. Other initiatives in that regard include the national policy on child labour, the national action plan for the elimination of child labour (2013–2017), the national framework for the development and integration of almajiri education into the universal basic education scheme and the action plan for ending violence against children, implemented by the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social 7