Edo State Task Force Against Human Trafficking

Last updated
Edo State Task Force Against Human Trafficking (ETAHT)
Agency overview
Formed2017
Jurisdiction Edo State
Agency executive
  • Prof Yinka Omorogbe
Website etaht.org

The Edo State Task Force Against Human Trafficking (ETAHT) is a Nigerian task force established by the Edo State Government to tackle human trafficking and irregular migration in the state, as well as the stigma that comes with it, State Task Force against human trafficking, is currently replicated in a host of southern states such as Ondo, Delta, Oyo, Lagos, Enugu, Ekiti States, etc. [1] Prof. Yinka Omorogbe the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Edo State, is also the chairman of the task force. [2] In the year 2017, Mr Godwin Obaseki inaugurated the state task force on anti-human trafficking. [3] The members of the task force were inaugurated at the Government House in Benin City, the state capital. [4] The Edo Task Force Against Human Trafficking is said to have received about 5,619 returnees from Libya en-route Europe from 2017 till date. [5]

Contents

The task force is made up of representatives from security agencies, NGOs, NAPTIP MDAS, religious and traditional institutions. [6]

Mission

To end human trafficking and irregular migration (modern-day slavery), as well as help, reintegrate returnees into society. [7]

Objectives

Committee members

Partners and affiliates

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edo State</span> State of Nigeria

Edo, officially known as Edo State, is a state in the South-South geopolitical zone of the federal republic of Nigeria. As of 2022, the state was ranked as the 22nd most populous state (4,777,000) in Nigeria. The estimated state population is around 4,777,000 in 2022. Edo State is the 22nd largest State by landmass in Nigeria. The state's capital and largest city, Benin City, is the fourth largest city in Nigeria, and the centre of the country's rubber industry. Created in 1991 from the former Bendel State, it is also known as the heart beat of the nation. Edo State borders Kogi State to the north for 133 km and across the Niger River for 81 km to the northeast, Anambra State to the east for about four km across the Niger River, Delta State to the southeast and south for 350 km, and Ondo State to the west.

Turkey is a top destination for victims of human trafficking, according to a report produced by the UNDOC. Source countries for identified victims of trafficking in 2008 included Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Romania, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Indonesia, and Morocco. Notably, Russian organized crime syndicates engage in trafficking of women for prostitution, and East European women have turned up in many European countries, including Turkey. U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons placed the country in "Tier 2" in 2017.

Zimbabwe is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. Large scale migration of Zimbabweans to surrounding countries—as they flee a progressively more desperate situation at home—has increased, and NGOs, international organizations, and governments in neighboring countries are reporting an upsurge in these Zimbabweans facing conditions of exploitation, including human trafficking. Rural Zimbabwean men, women, and children are trafficked internally to farms for agricultural labor and domestic servitude and to cities for domestic labor and commercial sexual exploitation. Women and children are trafficked for domestic labor and sexual exploitation, including in brothels, along both sides of the borders with Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa, and Zambia. Young men and boys are trafficked to South Africa for farm work, often laboring for months in South Africa without pay before "employers" have them arrested and deported as illegal immigrants. Young women and girls are lured to South Africa, the People's Republic of China, Egypt, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada with false employment offers that result in involuntary domestic servitude or commercial sexual exploitation. Men, women, and children from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia are trafficked through Zimbabwe en route to South Africa. Small numbers of South African girls are trafficked to Zimbabwe for domestic servitude. The government’s efforts to address trafficking at home have increased with the introduction of the National Action Plan (NAP) as well as the 2014 Trafficking in Persons Act. In addition, the trafficking situation in the country is worsening as more of the population is made vulnerable by declining socio-economic conditions.

Nigeria is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children subjected to trafficking in persons including forced labour and forced prostitution. The U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons placed the country in "Tier 2 Watchlist" in 2017. Trafficked people, particularly women and children, are recruited from within and outside the country's borders – for involuntary domestic servitude, sexual exploitation, street hawking, domestic servitude, mining, begging etc. Some are taken from Nigeria to other West and Central African countries, primarily Gabon, Cameroon, Ghana, Chad, Benin, Togo, Niger, Burkina Faso, and the Gambia, for the same purposes. Children from other West African states like Benin, Togo, and Ghana – where Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) rules allow for easy entry – are also forced to work in Nigeria, and some are subjected to hazardous jobs in Nigeria's granite mines. Europe, especially Italy and Russia, the Middle East and North Africa, are prime destinations for forced prostitution. Nigerians accounted for 21% of the 181,000 migrants that arrived in Italy through the Mediterranean in 2016 and about 21,000 Nigerian women and girls have been trafficked to Italy since 2015.

Ogwa is a town in Esan West Local Government Area in Edo State, Nigeria. It is among the constituent communities of Esanland. The people of Ogwa speak the Esan language. The language of the Esan people shares the same name as the name of the land itself. Esan and Ishan are interchangeably used to refer to the same place, language and people. Ishan is the anglicized variant for Esan. The Ogwa people in Edo State identify themselves as Esan or Ishan people. Ogwa has four clans: Eguare, Ukpogu, Izogen and Eha. These clans are headed by most elderly men in each of them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Godwin Obaseki</span> Nigerian politician (born 1957)

Godwin Nogheghase Obaseki is a Nigerian politician and businessman who has served as the governor of Edo State since 2016.

Devatop Centre for Africa Development is a youth-led nonprofit organization with aimed towards fighting and combating human trafficking, gender-based violence, child abuse, providing educational materials and academical support to vulnerable children, and empowering women and youth. The organization has been in the forefront of combating human trafficking and executing educational projects in Nigeria. It is registered with the Cooperate Affairs Commission Nigeria and since its establishment it has impacted over a million people through training, sensitization, assistance, donations and media.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ewuare II</span> Oba of Benin (2016–present)

Ewuare II was crowned the Oba of Benin on 20 October 2016. He is the 40th Oba, a title created for the Head of State (Emperor) of the Benin Empire at some time between 1180 and 1300.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beatrice Jedy-Agba</span>

Beatrice Jedy-Agba is a Nigerian lawyer and anti-human trafficking advocate. She is the first Nigerian to be honored by the U.S. Department of State with the Trafficking in Persons Heroes Award 2014. She was Director-General of National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) between 2011 and 2016.

Women Trafficking and Child Labour Eradication Foundation (WOTCLEF) is an anti-human trafficking organization that attempts to stop human trafficking and child labour in Nigeria. WOTCLEF's areas of focus are human trafficking, child labour, abuse of the rights of women and children and HIV/AIDS. The organization played a role in establishing the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking In Persons (NAPTIP) and the Network of Civil Society Organization Against Child Trafficking, Abuse and Labour (NACTAL).

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) is a law enforcement agency of the federal government of Nigeria. It was established in July, 2003 to combat human trafficking and other similar human rights violations.

Julie Okah-Donli is a Nigerian lawyer, chartered secretary and administrator, who served as the Director General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), an agency established by the Federal Government of Nigeria in 2003 to tackle human trafficking and other related matters. She is the founder of the Julie Donli Kidney Foundation, an NGO that supports people with kidney disease and also mother of the musician, Lady Donli.

Taiwo Francis Akerele,, is a Nigerian policy economist, author and politician, who served as the Chief of Staff, Edo State government in Nigeria from 2016, in the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led administration, until he resigned his appointment on April 25, 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Network Against Child Trafficking, Abuse and Labour</span> Nigerian umbrella network against human trafficking

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Idia Renaissance is a non governmental civil society organization based in Edo State, Nigeria. The organization organize activities around human trafficking, including reception of victims of human trafficking. Idia Renaissance was founded by Mrs. Eki Igbinedion, wife of Chief Lucky Igbinedion, a former governor of Edo State. In 2021, Idia Renaissance partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to create awareness on human trafficking and sexual exploitation of women girls.

The rate of Human Trafficking in Edo State is alarming in this region of Nigeria. Located in Nigeria's Southern region, Edo State accounts for the highest proportion of irregular migrants in Nigeria. Young girls in Edo state are enticed with false promises to leave Nigeria and travel abroad for a better life, by the traffickers. The traffickers in this state also use manipulation, diabolical oath and debt bondage to control their victims and force them into slavery, forced labour, sex trafficking, and organ sales.

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References

  1. "EU SUPPORTS NAPTIP TO ESTABLISH KANO STATE HUMAN TRAFFICKING TASK FORCE". A-TIPSOM. 31 August 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  2. "Obaseki sets up task force to tackle human trafficking". Vanguard News. 2017-08-15. Retrieved 2022-03-30.
  3. "Obaseki Inaugurates Task Force On Anti-Human Trafficking". ChannelsTV. 16 August 2017. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  4. "U.S. Applauds Edo State's Integrated Anti-Human Trafficking Framework". U.S. Embassy & Consulate in Nigeria. 2019-03-27. Archived from the original on 2021-11-24. Retrieved 2022-03-30.
  5. "Edo receives 5,619 Libya returnees in four years -- Official". 2021-03-18. Retrieved 2022-03-30.
  6. "Nigeria heeds global call, sets up State Task Force against human trafficking". www.unodc.org. Retrieved 2022-03-30.
  7. "Edo govt, IOM strengthen ties in fight against human trafficking". Vanguard News. 2020-02-20. Retrieved 2022-03-30.
  8. "Human Trafficking Between Nigeria and the UK: Addressing a Shared Challenge" (PDF). Nigeria APPG Report Human Trafficking: 28. 2018.
  9. Okere, Alexander (2019-08-16). "Women must marry men confident of their success –Prof Omorogbe, Edo Attorney General". Punch Newspapers. Retrieved 2024-08-05.