BY ANDREW IKEHI
The need for concerted efforts in eradicating all forms of human trafficking in Delta State has again been stressed.
This is coming as the State House of Assembly Committee on Housing, Women Affairs/Girl-Child Entrepreneur and Humanitarian Support Services, yesterday, held a public hearing on a bill to enact the Delta State Human Trafficking (Prohibition) Bill, 2024.
The Chairman, House of Assembly Committee on Housing, Women Affairs and Humanitarian Support Services, Hon. Bridget Anyafulu, stressed that Delta State remained passionate towards the eradication of all forms of human trafficking.
Addressing stakeholders at the event, Anyafulu said the goal of the exercise was to ensure that Delta State has a law that would effectively address and eradicate all forms of human trafficking in the State
Flanked by other members of the Committee; Hon. Marilyn Okowa-Daramola and Hon. Blessing Achoja, Anyafulu said that it was no longer news that so many young and vulnerable people, mostly under aged, are victims of one form of human trafficking both within and outside the shores of the country.
Stressing on the import of the bill, which she noted is principally aimed at salvaging the situation, just as she highlighted on the ordeals of victims in the hands of traffickers, the lawmaker enjoined stakeholders at the event to make necessary inputs that would further enhance the quality of the bill when passed into law.
She noted that the 8th Assembly, under the watch of the Speaker, Rt. Hon Emomotimi Guwor was committed to upholding the fundamental principles of democracy by engaging citizens’ participation in the law-making process. In their various submissions and presentation, the stakeholders commended the initiators of the bill and called for concerted efforts in the speedy passage of the bill which they noted would address some of the ills in society.
Present at the public hearing were; the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Hon. Pat Ajudua and her counterpart in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Hon. Orode Uduaghan Also present at the event were; representatives of the Ministries of Justice, Information, Youth Development, Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC), Nigeria Immigration Service, International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), Mega Impact Foundation, Association for Orphans and Vulnerable Children in Nigeria, among others.
