Edo to confiscate property of convicted traffickers

The Edo State Government has said that it would confiscate assets and property of persons convicted for human trafficking in the state.

The state’s Governor, Godwin Obaseki, disclosed this over the weekend in Benin on the occasion of World Day Against Trafficking in Persons.

He said the proceeds from such property of convicted trafficker would be channeled into the rehabilitation and reintegration of their victims.

He said the state government was collaborating with the judiciary and the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), to ensure the conviction of traffickers.

According to him, convicting the perpetrators and liquidating their assets would serve as a deterrent to others, who are still scouting for vulnerable Nigerians to traffic.

Obaseki said the state government, which had been hindered in the past by delays in prosecution has recruited competent prosecutors.

He however said long adjournments and handling of victims’ testimonies were delaying its move to get convictions.

“We have been able to intensify investigation and prosecution. But unfortunately, we have not been able to get any conviction. Not because the prosecutors are not doing their utmost best, but because of the very nature of our legal system,” he said.

He said the state government was making efforts to get convictions to serve as punishment to the perpetrators.

“We will work with the judiciary to try and reduce the long adjournments and also the way they treat evidence from victims. Many of these victims are afraid of revealing information about their traffickers because of threats, but we are taking measures to provide safe houses and cover for them until we are able to get prosecutions,” the governor stated.

He, however, said in the last four years under his watch, the number of trafficked persons from the state had reduced with the rehabilitation and reintegration of over 6,500 returnees.