Edo State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has attacked the state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Yinka Omorogbe, for saying human trafficking in the state “has deep cultural roots”.
But the state government rose to the defence of the commissioner, saying she only told the truth.
Ms. Omorogbe was quoted recently by CNN saying “(Human) trafficking in Edo is neither solely about economic issues nor underdevelopment, but has deep cultural roots that must be exposed, examined and pulled out.”
Ms. Omorogbe, who is the head of a task force against human trafficking in the state, was responding to questions from the American cable television network which was on an undercover investigation in Edo.
“Edo State is Nigeria’s trafficking hub and one of Africa’s largest departure points,” CNN said in the report of its investigation which had its reporter posing as a would-be migrant attempting to travel from the state to Italy.
The PDP said Ms. Omorogbe’s remark was not only distasteful but degrading to Edo people and their culture.
“We reject the description,” the party said on Tuesday in a statement issued by its spokesperson, Chris Nehikhare.
“On the contrary, Edo people are proud, industrious and have one of the richest cultures on the African continent.”
The party, which said human trafficking “has peaked since the coming into power of the All Progressives Congress-led government in the last 10 years in Edo State”, blamed the situation on the “failure” of Governor Godwin Obaseki ‘s administration to provide jobs for the youth.
It also accused the government of “killing” small businesses through a “punitive tax regime”.
“The truth cannot be hidden as it is clear that the singular reason for the thriving human trafficking business in Edo is poverty. Poverty caused by government failure, policy, and insensitivity!” Mr. Nehikhare said.
The PDP sympathised with families which lost their loved ones to human trafficking and advised the state government to “shift gear from campaign mode and begin to govern”.
However, Crusoe Osagie, the spokesperson to Governor Obaseki, in his response to the attack from the PDP, said the commissioner for justice was only stating the obvious.
“She was frank about the menace and any honest Edo person would appreciate the fact that the trend had assumed the status of an alternate culture, unfortunately, among our people,” Mr. Osagie said in an article he forwarded to newsmen on Wednesday.
“The grim statistics are verifiable from the number of Edo people that were evacuated from Libya. In every batch of returnees, there were at least 60 percent Edo people. Does this mean that Edo people are the poorest in Nigeria? Is Edo State the least industrialised in Nigeria? Is Edo State the closest state to the Sahara Desert or Mediterranean? PDP can provide Edo people with the correct answers. The truth must be told, if we are ready to solve the seeming hydra-headed problem.”
Mr. Osagie said PDP, and not the All Progressives Congress, APC-led government in the state, should be blamed for “setting the stage for the unprecedented scale of illegal migration and human trafficking”.
He said, “Undergraduates abandoned their educational pursuit, those learning one trade or the other gave them up for the reigning alternate culture of migrating illegally abroad.
“There were no motorable roads in Benin City or elsewhere. Teachers’ House area in Ogida was a disaster, same for Queen Eden and St Maria Goretti junction on Upper Sokponba Road, which was christened Morocco and Spain. The situation was pathetic and disheartening.
“It is also laughable that the PDP would think that taxing cottage industries is a root cause of human trafficking. With this, they show that they are ignorant of the matrix of governance. That they gloss over the issues and want to pitch tent with the common man with these misguided inferences mark them out as mischief makers garbed in lies and falsehood.”
The British Deputy High Commissioner in Nigeria, Laure Beaufils, said on Monday in Edo State, during a Roundtable on Migration and Human Trafficking organised by the Nigerian Senate, that “4000 to 6000 times, some Nigerian girls are forced to have sex with strangers for the rest of their lives.”
The deputy high commissioner said the situation called for immediate actions that could help end human trafficking.
Additional report by PremiumTimes
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