Edo, Italy, British Govts Meet to Curb Human Trafficking

By Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City

In a bid to arrest human trafficking and illegal migration, the government of Edo State has revealed it would adopt policies to clamp down on the cartels involved in the unwholesome act while meeting with expatriates from Italy and Britain to address the scourge.

The State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki disclosed this at a two-day workshop in Benin City themed ‘Human Trafficking – Plight, Plan and the Way Forward’.

Meanwhile, representatives from Italy and Britain were at the workshop, which was chaired by the President of Centre for Change and Women Arise, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin.

The aim of the workshop was to generate ideas and rub minds that would help in legislation and formulation of policies to deal with the cartels involved in human trafficking and eradicate the menace due to the dangers victims were exposed to in search of greener pasture outside the shores of Nigeria.

On why it was important for the foreign delegates to be present, Governor Obaseki said: “They are concerned about what they see on the streets in their countries and they feel we need help, and truly we need help so we had to converge. Some of the girls are victims of the cartel that want to make money by all means, and it is about time we dusted our laws to nip the problem in the bud.”

Represented by his Deputy, Comrade Phillip Shaibu, the governor revealed economic solutions that the government was already exploring to tackle the problem of human trafficking, announcing that the state government would soon roll out the first set of jobs for unemployed graduates in the Edo Jobs Initiative, who were already captured in the data base.

“The issue of unemployment will soon be history in Edo State because we have put in place policies to address the problem. While people are banking on the 200,000 jobs we promised, we have put modalities in place to go beyond what we promised in Edo,” he said.