BENIN CITY, NIGERIA. Pathfinders’ R. Evon Idahosa, Esq. has been appointed a consultant to the Office of the Senate President of Nigeria on migration and human trafficking. (Ms. Idahosa is also currently serving as a consultant to Nigeria’s House of Representatives regarding its efforts to amend the human trafficking law in Nigeria.)
In an effort to address the scourge of irregular migration and human trafficking in Nigeria, the Office of the Senate President hosted a two day Roundtable on Migration and Human Trafficking in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria on February 26th and 27th, 2018. The Roundtable, which was organized, moderated and facilitated by Ms. Idahosa, was a high level event attended by representatives of the President of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari, by His Excellency, the Senate President of Nigeria, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, CON, the Senate Leader, various Nigerian Senators and both state and federal Ministers and Ministries, including Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Interior and many others. In addition, representatives of all related and relevant federal agencies, including NAPTIP, NDLEA, NIS, NOA, NCFRMI, NCS and NPF were in attendance. The Governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, as well as his Deputy Governor (Rt. Hon. Philip Shaibu), were also in attendance, along with dignitaries from the Palace of the Oba of Benin and other faith based and community leaders. Representatives from varying international Commissions, Foreign Embassies (United Kingdom, France, Italy, Libya, Germany, Niger), organizations and agencies, including the United Nations, UN Women, UNHCR, IOM, UNODC, the European Union, etc. and at least fifty (50) CSOs were in attendance, as all stakeholders collectively sought to identify the gaps and challenges on the issues of irregular migration and human trafficking, as well as proffer sustainable, long term solutions. In addition, all stakeholders heard from two survivors (a repatriated female survivor trafficked to Russia and a male returnee from Libya) who shared their stories and highlighted various push and pull factors that served to exploit their vulnerabilities. On Day II of the Roundtable, stakeholders in Parallel Sessions addressed the issues of Prevention, Protection, Prosecution and Reintegration, as they outlined a roadmap for the Office of Senate President to provide short, mid-term and long term solutions. Junior and Senior secondary school students from Word of Faith Group of Schools (Benin) also performed a spoken word/musical piece inspired by the fight against human trafficking and irregular migration; a poignant reminder of why all stakeholders were gathered together in solidarity. The Roundtable was a tremendous success and we look forward to continuing to work with the Office of the Senate President to implement the roadmap and to ensure that all promises made during the event are realised. #EndSlavery #EndIrregularMigration #EndHumanTrafficking
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