BENIN CITY: His Royal Majesty Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokplo Oba Ewuare 11 the Oba of Benin, said a lot more is needed to be done in the fight against human trafficking in the state and county in general.
Oba Ewuare 11 stated this when the Presidente of the Chamber of Deputies, Italy, Hon. Laura Boldrini accompanied by Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki paid him a courtesy visit at his palace in Benin City the Edo State Capital.
The Oba said that a lot more is needed to be done in the areas of youth empowerment and creation of the relevant industries to absorb the youths after they have been trained. He said that he had always being in the fore front in the fight against human trafficking especially when he was the Nigerian ambassador to Italy.
“I did a lot on human trafficking and I worked closely with the Director of Interior, Italy, to get an MoU signed that will allow the Nigeria Police work with the Italian Police to identity Nigerian immigrants who come into their country.
The Oba commended the Nigerian Police force who went to Italy for the cause noting that they did a lot in curtailing trafficking of Nigerians to the country.
Oba Ewuare 11 also commended Gov. Obaseki led administration for prioritizing skills acquisition and vocational training for youths in the state. He stated that plans were on- going to attract investors to the state, so that the youths who are being trained would have where to work.
The Oba urged the Presidente of The Italian Chamber of Deputies not to hesitate to bring investors to the state when such opportunities come, noting that the state was looking for investors in its export free zone and Seaport projects.
Earlier the governor intimated the Oba of the Italian government readiness to collaborate with the State to address a lot of issues including human trafficking.
He said that a workshop on human trafficking was organized in the state and the full report of the workshop would be presented to the Oba.
In her remarks, Boldrini commended the Oba for
the active role he played to address the issue of human trafficking while he was the ambassador of Nigeria to Italy.
She said that the issue of migration was a global phenomenon which every country must join forces to address. She said the state government was on track with its decision to prioritize vocational training for young girls as it would help open opportunities for them to have jobs for themselves.
