Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo has restated his administration’s commitment to deal with the cabal promoting human trafficking within and outside the state.
Obaseki stated this when he gave his closing remarks at a workshop on Human Trafficking organised by his government.
The Workshop had the theme: “Human Trafficking – Plight, Plan and The Way Forward.”
The governor said human trafficking had taken a worrisome dimension and it is destroying the image of the state.
He said statistics made available to him showed that out of 37,000 African migrants that travelled to Italy last year, 15,000 of them are from Nigeria and majority of them are from Edo and Delta states.
He said that his administration would not relent in using its political will to domesticate a law and also work with relevant security agencies to fight those behind the illicit act.
Obaseki said the state was ready to partner with traditional and religious leaders as well as Federal and international agencies to curb the trafficking.
He added that his administration would provide better means of livelihood for the victims as well as re-integrate them into Edo communities by ensuring their enrolment in the Edo Government employment scheme.
Some of the participants who presented their recommendations at the end of the workshop, called on the Federal government to extend the whistle blowing policies to human trafficking.
They said that such policy will help expose the cabal and the promoters of the human trafficking scourge that had eaten deep into the fabric of the state and nation.
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