By JENNIFER YARIMA
The Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Plateau State, Philemon A. Daffi, has lamented the menace of human trafficking which, he said, has placed Plateau in a disturbing situation that requires deliberate steps and public reawakening to tackle.
Speaking at a one-day stakeholders’ workshop organised by the Ministry of Justice in collaboration with the State Task Force on Anti-Human Trafficking, held at the Victoria Gowon Multipurpose Hall, Jos, Daffi reaffirmed government’s readiness to support the fight.
“Plateau will not remain a hub for trafficking; we shall give the state brand new law to capture emerging concerns,” he stated.
The event drew officials, security agencies, civil society, traditional and religious leaders across the three senatorial zones, underscoring the need for collaboration, funding and grassroots engagement.
Two young survivors, Teiye Deborah James and Seer Gwanzwang, shared chilling accounts of their ordeals abroad.
James recounted: “When I arrived, I was told the work was prostitution. When I refused, Police were asked to beat me. I ended up sleeping with an average of 30 men daily until I paid about N250,000 each to two women before I was rescued.”
Gwanzwang described the journey as inhuman: “Some girls knew what they were going to do, but some of us didn’t. A girl of 13 was humiliated because she refused to succumb. The madam forced a bottle into her private part. I paid my madams about N5 million before I left. I was given daily targets of N60,000 to N100,000 and forced to sleep with more than 10 men daily.”
Plateau NAPTIP Commander, Adole Alexander, warned that many parents unknowingly hand over children to traffickers.
“Many victims end up in organ harvest and ritual purposes. We have safe homes like Grace Garden and Kids with Vision where victims are rehabilitated,” he said, while appealing for an official vehicle and faster court processes.
Sandra Chikan, Coordinator of the Child Protection Network, noted: “Many Plateau children have been trafficked for labour or taken abroad under the guise of house helps or orphanages.”
She added that survivors were being reunited with families and receiving counselling and rehabilitation.
Similarly, WRAPA Coordinator, Jummai Madaki, raised alarm that “many vehicles are being stocked with kids from Plateau” and called for prevention, sensitisation and the establishment of a safe house to aid integration of the returnees.