Lucky Obukohwo Reporting
The Onojie of Igueben, His Royal Highness Ehizogie Eluogierior, has alleged that some clergymen are using their pulpits in encouraging irregular migration, just as he called for sanctions on them to halt the scourge in the state .
He recalled that most of the pastors use their Sunday service to praise and thank God for those who are able to cross the Sahara desert or are using pictures of those on the verge of crossing the sea in their prayer points.
The royal father made the accusation Thursday, October 12 at a Social Dialogue and Interfaith forum with traditional and religious leaders in Edo Central Senatorial District by the Justice Development Peace and Caritas Initiative JDPCI, of the Uromi Catholic Diocese in its advocacy project seeking to mobilize relevant stakeholders and galvanize action towards the activation of Trafficking in Persons (TIP) response in the Local Government Areas of Edo State through a legislative review of the Edo TIP Prohibition Law 2018 to make inclusive provision for the establishment of Local Taskforce Against Human Trafficking.
The Onojie of Igueben who said he followed suit after the Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II placed curse on sponsors of illegal migration, noted that the menace has reduced drastically at Igueben and challenged pastors and the Christian community to use their churches to do the same by preaching against the evil.
“We gathered the people and placed a curse on those sponsoring Illegal migration. And I’ll say since that time if the record we have is correct, there is a massive decrease of people migrating from that area. I don’t know about other areas.
“I think the Catholic Church have been very active in this area, but can we say so with the pastors that we have all over Esan and beyond?
“The pastors we have now, they wake up, they say God called them; they are the people we want to reach one way or the other in this human trafficking issue, because majority of them attend their service either praising God, thanking God for those who have crossed the Lybia desert. They’re the ones sponsoring people really and they are still doing it in their churches. If they’re not praising God today for those who have crossed the desert, you know behind the scene they’re putting their pictures in their prayer points”.
An Uromi based clergy, Archbishop Anthony Okosun, decried the new crave for illegal wealth by young people with the active support of parents. While counselling parents that money is not everything, Bishop Okosun who agreed with the Onojie of Igueben on the complicity of some pastors in encouraging illegal migration, pointed out that these group of pastors neither belong to the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) nor the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN).
“It’s unfortunate that a mother will be dancing from street to street, the father wearing agbada that their son is doing very well, that a child of 15 years has built mansions without doing any job, all because he has travelled to Ghana here. Because of that societal value for people who have travelled abroad, we believe they have made it, so my daughter must go, my son must go.
“I also agree with Your Highness that some pastors are involved, luckily the chairman of CAN is here, PFN chairman is here.
“Most of these pastors doing these things are not members of CAN and PFN, they don’t belong to anywhere, they’re just on their own.
“Our people must realise that money is not everything, you can have money and you’ll not have peace. Let us be preaching it in churches, Catholic, Anglican, Pentecostal churches that human trafficking is evil, it’s slavery. We celebrated freedom from slavery years back and to go back indirectly into slavery is not a welcome development”.
Welcoming the traditional and religious leaders to the Social Dialogue and Interfaith Forum, the Executive Director of Uromi JDPCI, the Very Rev. Fr. Dr. Fidelis Arhedo pointed out that the goal of the Galvanize Action for Effective Trafficking in Persons Response at the Local Government Area (LGA) is to activate and institutionalize trafficking in person response at the LGAs of Edo State by 2024.
Arhedo noted that though trafficking in persons and irregular migration are global phenomenal, but the greatest opportunity for addressing them rest at the local level.
“This realization has encouraged a shift towards supporting local responses largely by exploring opportunities at the community level for increased collaboration and engagement towards addressing key drivers of the scourge and continually advocating for relevant policy reforms.
“Under this project specific advocacy tasks will be tied around the following objectives:Legislative review of the Edo State Trafficking in Persons Prohibition Law 2018 to make provision for the activation of LGA TIP response units, establishment of the Victims of Trafficking Trust Fund & Victims of Trafficking Trust Fund Committees as stipulated under section 67 and 68 of the Edo TIP Law 2018, increased budgetary allocation for the Edo State Taskforce Against Human Trafficking (ETAHT)”.
Very Rev. Fr. Arhedo pointed out that the project is also advocating for the establishment of the taskforce against humanity trafficking at the various Local Government Areas because the Taskforce as presently constituted has no presence at the Senatorial and Local Government levels.
“Edo State Trafficking in Person Prohibition Law that established Edo State Taskforce Against Trafficking in Persons did not make provision for the creation of Local Taskforce Against Human Trafficking. It is therefore imperative to have institutionalized structure at the LGAs to aid effective response to human trafficking to have a preventive rather than a reactionary approach to the prevention of human trafficking in Edo State. This network structure aimed at creating an approach that would help to strengthen prevention effort, by creating easy referral pathways that will improve effective response to human trafficking issues as well as support in the reintegration of victims of human trafficking”.
Also speaking, Chief Goddy Omokhegbele who represented the Onojie of Uromi, Zaiki Anselm Edenojie ll, tasked leaders of CAN and PFN to seek out those pastors who are using their pulpits to encourage illegal migration in any form. He pointed out that it will be defeatist for them to deny these pastors, but should endeavour to find them out for sanctions.
The Uromi JDPCI is implementing the Galvanize Action for Effective Trafficking in Persons Response at the Local Government Area (LGA) project as the anchor with five other cluster members.
The project is part of the Strengthening Civic Advocacy and Local Engagement (SCALE) project being implemented by Palladium and its resource partners and financed by the United States Agency for International Development USAID.