By Onoriode Etatsemi
Delta State Commissioner for Justice and the Attorney -General of the State, Mr. Ekemejero Ohwovoriole has said that the fight against child human trafficking and other child abuse is a task that requires collective responsibility of all .
Ohwovoriole stated this in his office in Asaba when the team of the Girls Power Initiative (GPI), a CSO working in counter trafficking, paid him an advocacy visit.
He affirmed that girl child was most affected in terms of abuse , adding that in some cases the male gender also face some form of abuse .
He said that there was the impression that Edo was the most affected state, stressing that reports had shown that Delta State was also affected.
The Attorney -General, however, assured the Girl Power Initiative of the Ministry’s support to ensure the success of the initiative..
Earlier, the implementing officer, GPI/ECPAT France and Luxembourg, May Ekido informed the Attorney -General that her team met with his predecessor in 2023 during the commencement of the project and he assured them of his support.
Ekido recalled that their organisation had carried out a survey in 2023 to identify some of the most endemic local government areas in the state with high incidences of human trafficking.
She said that a report of that survey was submitted to the Attorney General’s office, adding that as a result of that survey their funders, ECPAT France and Luxembourg decided to sponsor the anti human trafficking programme in some LGAs in Delta and Edo States to reduce the vulnerability of children to human trafficking and support survivors of human trafficking in Delta State.
She disclosed that the project which started in September 2023, will involve sensitization to schools and the setting up of anti human trafficking clubs in schools and would span 3 years, stressing that their coverage area included Ughelli North, Ughelli South, Oshimili North and Ika South as well as five LGAs in Edo State.
She solicited the support of the Honourable Attorney General and the State Task Force on Human Trafficking and Irregular Migration inachieving some of the milestones in the project which included meeting with the child protectors , social workers and other stakeholders in the selected LGAs , holding coordination and capacity building meetings with them and working together to reduce child human trafficking in the state.