By Ikhili Monday EBALU, Benin City
Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has disclosed that the State government would come up with necessary legislations and policies in order to effectively curb human trafficking in the state.
Obaseki who said this at the weekend in Benin during a workshop on human trafficking organised by the state government described the situation as alarming.
He said “We got data yesterday from the President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, Laura Boldrini that about 37,000 immigrants entered Italy this year, about 15,000 of them were from Nigeria and majority of these number were from Edo and Delta States.”
” We would take the fight against human trafficking seriously, and we would domesticate the law on human trafficking so that people would know that human trafficking is as bad as kidnapping,” he said.
Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has disclosed that the State government would come up with necessary legislations and policies in order to effectively curb human trafficking in the state.
Obaseki who said this at the weekend in Benin during a workshop on human trafficking organised by the state government described the situation as alarming.
He said “We got data yesterday from the President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, Laura Boldrini that about 37,000 immigrants entered Italy this year, about 15,000 of them were from Nigeria and majority of these number were from Edo and Delta States.”
” We would take the fight against human trafficking seriously, and we would domesticate the law on human trafficking so that people would know that human trafficking is as bad as kidnapping,” he said.
The governor however solicits the support of traditional rulers and religious leaders in curbing the menace of human trafficking which he said is imparting on the state negatively.
“I am going to meet with traditional institutions and religious institutions such Mosques and Churches and to tell them that we must deal with this problem. When we were praying for people when they succeeded in getting visa, we thought it was the right things to do but now look at the consequences. We must all rise up to fight the situation to restore our society,” he said.
He noted that the major challenge in the fight against the scourge is the godfathers of human traffickers who remain in Europe but have agents in Nigeria who recruits victims for them, calling for the help of international communities to bring them to justice.
While assuring that he would work with the international community’s to step up the level of awareness on the danger of human trafficking, he called on NAPTIP to always share data of repatriated victims with them to know how to rehabilitate and register them for the Edo State Job Initiative.
Earlier in his presentation, WOTCLEF Director, Abayomi Rotimi Martins urged the state government to step up sensitization campaign and strengthen traditional mediation system to curb the menace.
He added government must have sustained political will in prosecuting perpetrators no matter how highly placed they are, and also work with Civil Society Organisation.
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