Edo state Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, on Thursday, highlighted some of his administration’s measures to tackle human trafficking, revealing that a special task force led by the newly-sworn in Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General of the state, Professor Yinka Omoregbe, would be set up to address the social malaise.
He added that the DSS, the Nigerian Police, and other security agencies would work with the task force to baulk the scourge.
This was at the 4th Edo Women’s Conference, themed ‘Modern day slavery: policies and programmes to combat/end trafficking in Edo state’, where the governor, who was special guest of honour, expressed disapproval at Edo’s involvement in the illegal trade.
Describing trafficking as “a threat to our survival as a race and as a people,” Governor Obaseki assured that his administration would do everything humanly possible to combat the problem, while also charging citizens of the state to combat the problem.
Pinpointing the causes of human trafficking, he fingered poverty, illiteracy, greed and the breakdown of the education system, especially the basic education system, as eminent culprits occasioning for the rise of the scourge.
Meanwhile, the governor explained that strategies to address the issue would include diplomatic international collaboration, economic, empowerment, education, job creation, and skill acquisition initiatives.
Furthermore, he elucidated that other modalities were being instituted to encourage education, such as refurbishing technical and vocational schools such as Benin Technical College.
In addition, the governor expressed confidence that the Benin Technical College project, which would be completed in about 9 months, would not marginalise female students, but would encourage them to study and acquire necessary skills to become independent.
