The Deputy Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon.Mrs. Maria Edeko has said the State Assembly is ever determined to support the creation of taskforce units to counter human trafficking in the State.
She stated this when she received the executive members of Uromi Justice Development Peace and Caritas Initiatives ( JDPCI) in Benin, a non-governmental organization committed to eradicating the menace of human trafficking in the State.
She disclosed that the State government, in partnership with other relevant agencies, have recorded remarkable achievements in eradicating human trafficking, as evidenced by 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 drafting the legal framework against human trafficking. She said there is an urgent need to review the law to accommodate the creation of a local response unit to counter human trafficking in the local government areas.
The female lawmaker also advocated for the need to meaningfully engage the youths in the acquisition of skills through the establishment of skill acquisition centres across all the 18 local councils, stressing that such concerted efforts would discourage vulnerable youths from being trafficked.
She added that, as a deterrent to discourage the menace, confiscated property belonging to traffickers could be auctioned to compensate victims as enshrined in the law. She, however, advised the executive members of JDPCI to either come up with a private member bill to the house or liaise with the attorney general of the State, who will, in turn, present their demand to the governor for consideration.
In his address, Dr. Fidelis Arhedo, the Executive Director of Uromi Justice Development Peace and Caritas Initiatives, said that their visit was to solicit the support of the deputy Speaker and the house on the need to review the state trafficking in persons (Prohibition) law of 2018.
He noted that the law should be reviewed to include establishing local response units to tackle the menace from the grassroots, adding that the legal framework established to counter human trafficking had recorded considerable achievements within the state level.
Arhedo appealed to the House of Assembly members to assist the organization in getting the attention of the state government to address critical issues concerning the creation of local response units and legislative review of the Edo State Trafficking in Persons Prohibition Law 2018.
