Edo expends N300m on 4, 943 Libya returnees

TRACKING >Chairperson of the Edo state Taskforce Against Human Trafficking (ETAHT) and Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Prof. Yinka Omorogbe on Monday said the state has received a total of 4, 943 Libya returnees since 2017 till date.

She also said the government has spent well over N300 million in their upkeeps and other sundries logistics in the year under review.

Prof. Omorogbe disclosed this while briefing newsmen in Benin on the activities of the task force within its two years of existence.

She said the successes recorded so far by the state government has corrected the negative impression held by the international community on the state, adding that she was proud to be part of the success stories

“Our efforts in Edo state have been acknowledged internationally. If you look at the trafficking in persons before 2019, you will see that copious references are made to Edo state.

“There is no doubt that this is one reason why Edo state in that report was actually upgraded because they saw our great efforts and they saw the different things being done in the state.

“This is definitely a landmark achievement of this government and we are happy to be part of it.

“Now, the state has so far, looked after nearly 5, 000 returnees and will continue to do that, but that number today is 4, 943 returnees that have been received from Libya,” the commissioner added.

According to her, the 4, 943 returnees include those who were flown home from Libya by the International Office for Migration and the state government, comprising of, 3, 329 men, 1,400 females and 214 children.

“Happily, we have had many births because many of the women returned with pregnancies. So, we also have babies that were not born when their mothers returned to the country, but have since been delivered by their mothers since returning home,” she said.

The commissioner while refuting the claim that she inflated the cost price of identity cards for the returnees, cautioned the peddlers of such information to always get their facts right before going public.

“We further refer to the deceitful statements about a N7.4 million identity card project that spoke about inflating the sun for identity cards issued to about 3, 000 members of the group and to state that it is a gross misrepresentation of facts and baseless.

“With the large number of returnees who came into Edo state, it became imperative that modern systems were employed to uniquely identify beneficiaries of the government’s scheme to identify and cater for the special needs of returnees with the aim of re-integrating them back into the society they had left without stigmatization,” Omorogbe stated.

She said the task force has not received any cash from international donors, but all it has gotten were assistance in the provision of lunch and venues which have also helped in the fight against human trafficking in the state, as all the finances expended for the returnees welfare have come from the state government.

Similarly, the commissioner debunked the claim by some returnees that they have not received any financial assistance from the state government.

“All the different people who claimed that they have not been given anything have substantially been given money and also, every returnee who came when the state government could no longer sustain the disbursement of financial assistance was given N60, 000 at least,” she declared.