The deputy speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Maria Edeko has expressed the resolve of the 8th Assembly to support the creation of Task Force units to counter human trafficking in all the 18 local government councils in the state.
Hon. Edeko made the disclosure recently in Benin City, when she received the executive members of Uromi Justice Development Peace and Caritas Initiatives (JDPCI) a non-governmental organisation committed to the total eradication of the menace of human trafficking at the grassroots.
Combating the menace of human trafficking effectively at the grassroots, according to Hon. Edeko requires a review of the Edo State Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Law of 2018, the legal frame established by law to counter the menace of human trafficking in the state.
According to her, the 8th Assembly will do everything within its legislative powers to support a review of the Edo State Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Law of 2018 whenever the need arises, in order to ensure the sustainability of the fight against the menace of human trafficking through the promotion of the establishment of local response units (task forces) at the local government councils in the state.
She said the “Edo State Government, as the first of the 36 states in the federation through the instrumentality of the Edo State Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Law of 2018, in partnership with other relevant agencies, has recorded remarkable achievements in the eradication of human trafficking, as evidenced in the fact that Edo State is no longer the most endemic state in the federation as it was in the past.
“As a former chairman of FIDA (Federation of International Women Lawyers) in the state, my colleagues and I were very instrumental in the drafting of the legal framework against human trafficking.
“However, there is a need to review the law to accommodate the creation of a local response unit in order to counter human trafficking at the local government councils, as it will promote the sustainability of efforts made by the Obaseki-led administration in the eradication of the menace of human trafficking,” she added.
She however advocated for the need to meaningfully engage youths in the acquisition of skills through the establishment of skill acquisition centres across all the 18 local councils, adding that concerted efforts in that regard will discourage vulnerable youths from being trafficked.
Speaking further, the deputy speaker said government alone, in the face of scarce resources, cannot totally undertake the full re-integration of victims of human trafficking into the society without the support of spirited organisation, adding that to discourage the menace, confiscated property belonging to traffickers can be auctioned to compensate victims as enshrined in the law.
She further advised the executive members of JDPCI to liaise with the attorney-general of the state in achieving its outlined objectives relating to critical issues on social welfare, budgetary review which require full activation of the law by presenting every challenge affecting these organisations before the attorney-general of the state who in turn can present them to the governor for consideration.
Earlier in his address, Dr.Fidelis Arhedo the Executive Director of Uromi Justice Development Peace and Caritas Initiatives, said that their visit was predicated on the need to strengthen the Edo State Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Law of 2018 by reviewing it to establish local response units to counter human trafficking at the grassroot levels.
According to him, the legal framework established to counter human trafficking had recorded considerable achievements within the state level in view of the partnership with other relevant agencies as the operations of these organisations are mainly restricted to urban centres, hence the need to replicate the establishment of the counter task forces in all the local government councils of the state.
Rev. Fidelis however revealed that human traffickers are daily changing strategies by luring vulnerable indigent youths at the grassroots on the prospect of securing good job opportunities abroad noting that these agents of human trafficking have changed their mode of operations by moving into the nooks and crannies in different communities in all the local government councils.
He however appealed to the deputy speaker to assist the organisation in getting the attention of state government in addressing the critical issues bothering on the creation of local response units, legislative review of the Edo State Trafficking in Persons Prohibition Law 2018 amongst others in order fully optimise the operations at the grassroot levels.
