By SIMON EBEGBULEM, BENIN-CITY

In 1999 after Mrs Eki Igbinedion assumed office as the First Lady of Edo State, she resolved to check human trafficking and illegal migration which had become rampant in the state. She went to Italy to solicit the help of the Italian government in the return of the girls from the state who had been trafficked or illegally migrated and were into prostitution in the European country. She did that due to her concerns about the way Edo girls in Italy were giving the state negative publicity then.

Mrs Eki Igbinedion

It was like Eki had premonition of what is currently happening in Libya, where over 5, 000 Nigerians, most of whom are from Edo, have reportedly been sold as slaves. However, Mrs Igbinedion faced stiff opposition from the families of the trafficked girls and the cartel behind the illegal migration. Some of the families who believed the bid was to stop their children from ‘prospering’ abroad, in fact, reportedly went to native doctors to place curses on her and her action became a big threat to her husband´s re-election in 2003.

When Sunday Vanguard confronted her then about the dangers of the fight against illegal migration and human trafficking, particularly as it related to her husband´s re-election, she said, “I am aware of what is going on but I will not be intimidated. I believe the dignity of the Edo woman is greater than becoming the First Lady of Edo State. I am aware that the PDP as a party is worried; some people have been abusing me saying I am venturing into a dangerous terrain; that I want to remove food from the table of families by asking them to bring their trafficked girls back home. But I told them that power belongs to God; if what I am doing it good, God will give victory to my husband; so I have no fear. It is the cartel that I am fighting; they are using our girls as slave sex. They are exploited every day, many are dying of different diseases and I have said this rubbish must stop. What these people are doing is a crime against God and humanity. Unfortunately the families are only looking at the material gains; they don’t look at the dangers associated with human trafficking¨.

Remedial efforts

Meanwhile, Eki established a non-governmental organization, called Idia Renaissance, to carter for the needs of some of the girls from Edo repatriated from Italy. And her husband, Mr Lucky Igbinedion, was re-elected for second term. Idia Renaissance Youth Resource Centre, established by Idia Renaissance has, since then, trained thousands of Edo women sent back home or returned voluntarily from Italy and other parts of Europe in different skills and many of them are self-reliant today. Penultimate Friday, 635 students, who just completed their programmes, graduated from the centre. It was the 6th graduation ceremony of the centre and a joyful occasion for the girls and Mrs Igbinedion. The former First Lady told the graduating trainees: “This event is not a jamboree or a social gathering of friends. I call it a celebration of womanhood and a commitment to ensure that children, youths and women are empowered and are given the opportunity to develop their potentials and excel in their chosen trade.

¨Idia Renaissance was set up to fight social ills as prevalent in the society including human trafficking, prostitution, cultism and illegal migration. The centre also prepares the youths for the challenges of the future by empowering them with skills to tackle the problem of poverty occasioned by unemployment and lack of creativity for self-reliance¨.

She went on, “For some of you who may not know, the prompting of Idia Renaissance in 1999 was to respond to a social ill and major crisis which seeks to tear down the values that we have culturally that protects our most precious, that is the woman, and causes her to be looked down as worthless in a century where women are enjoying unlimited freedom, taking advantage their natural potentials, skills and of course education to compete favourably and even ride above their male counterparts in all spheres of life.

¨Idia Renaissance came at a time many thought fighting a vice as serious as human trafficking and prostitution that debases the woman was something almost near impossible because some felt the ill had eaten deep into the moral fabric of the society. This idea was often orchestrated by human traffickers and those who were benefiting directly or indirectly from the smuggling and trafficking of our women, creating the false impression that it was the easiest way out of poverty. Today, the traditional and social media is awash with ugly videos and photos in the Middle East, Libya and the Mediterranean Sea involving our youths and women which can only be best imagined. The desperation to travel abroad has led to persons who ordinarily had good jobs and businesses to close shop, sell off their equipment/items and head to unknown destinations, thereby becoming victims of abuse, exploitation and even death¨.

‘Expect attacks’

Eki, who spoke to Sunday Vanguard after the event, commended Governor Godwin Obaseki for his current efforts to fight illegal migration and human trafficking, informing him to expect attacks from the sponsors and families of the victims but he must not succumb to pressure and intimidation. ¨I faced fire when I was battling these people. I call them evil people because their job is to destroy our girls. I commend Governor Obaseki for acknowledging that human trafficking and illegal migration is a big social problem in our state and the efforts so far made to address the problem. Know it that there will be negative criticisms and even threats like we also experienced during our time in government but posterity will vindicate your good intentions.

Idia Renaissance is willing to partner government to end the trafficking of our youths. We are proud of the success stories of the young girls and women, vulnerable young boys and men who, through our programmes, have become role models and ambassadors of the campaign against human trafficking, prostitution and illegal migration. If you saw the girls who recently returned from Libya, you would have heard their stories of exploitation and how they were sold by sponsors. This is what i was crying about then, that it will get worse if we didn’t check them. I saw a situation whereby parents were selling their land and cars to send their girls abroad illegally. I said we must stop the madness but what i saw then many people did not see it. And only God saved me then, because He knew I was fighting a good cause, from the evil machinations of the human traffickers I was campaigning against. And that is why i am advising Governor Obaseki not to be intimidated. These evil people will threaten him and he will face different challenges but he must remain focused and determined to win this war¨.

Testimony 

Saying the graduating trainees were a testimony to her doggedness in the fight against human trafficking, the former First Lady said, “The girls are our pride and encouragement that we can have a society where our young girls and women can shun human trafficking and other social vices and determine to make the best out of their lives from the skills they have acquired. I must also appreciate His Royal Majesty, Oba Ewuare 11 of Benin. I can never forget the support and encouragement i received then from Oba Erediauwa in the fight against human trafficking when he publicly condemned, in strong terms, the practice, the role of traditional priests in the illicit trade and went ahead to make some donations to the organization in support of the campaign. I pray that someday we will be able to send the perpetrators of human trafficking to jail¨.

Over 1,500 Edo youths, trafficked to Libya en route to Europe, returned home in the last three months with gory stories, especially of slavery, just as some of the women among them came back pregnant while some were said to have been delivered of their babies in Libyan prisons. Governor Obaseki immediately set up the Task Force Against Human Trafficking to rehabilitate the returnees. About 150 of them participated in the agricultural programme organized by the state government where Obaseki announced a N100 million facility to help the trainees set up their own farms. The governor also disclosed plans to integrate the returnees into the Edo jobs programmes and the state transport sector while building skill acquisition centres across the senatorial districts of the state and upgrading the Benin Technical College where the returnees and other youths can be trained in skills to be self-reliant. Meanwhile, the governor has intensified efforts to crack down on the perpetrators of human trafficking in Edo through international collaboration to crack down on the sponsors who are said to be indigenes of the state. Sunday Vanguard gathered that a crack team of operatives from the police, the DSS and the military has been put together to unravel the sponsors.