Posted By: Osagie Otabor, Benin
A total of 16 girls out of the 169 Libya deportees received by the Edo State Government on Wednesday came back with pregnancy.
Many of the girls refused to talk with journalists even as some had children with them.
Last week, the Edo State Government received 84 Edo indigenes who were deported from Libya.
Governor Obaseki offered to place them on monthly stipend as well as trained them on acquiring vocational skills.
Some of the girls who spoke gave tales of woes and suffering even as some said they were walking in the streets of Libya when they were arrested and deported.
Edo State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Prof. Yinka Omorogbe said the new batch of deportees were women and children with only one male adult.
The Commissioner who is also the chairman Edo state Taskforce Against Human Trafficking said the state government is highlighting the evils of trafficking to the deportees.
“The idea is that Edo wants to eradicate trafficking in persons and stem the illegal migration. If you want to travel, do it legally. We are worried about what the people go through when they decided to travel to Libya illegally.
“Government is taking the problem as its own, we are interested in those who will partner with the state government to address the issue. As we have seen, 80 percent of illegal migrants are from Edo state so it has been a big challenge to us.
“We are trying to assist them and be integrated into the society. Those who want to go back to school would be encourage to go back while those who need training in skill acquisition would be trained in their chosen skills.”
One of the returnees named Joseph Faith who described her experience as horrible said she would have preferred to remain in Nigeria if she was gainfully employed.
She said would like to go back to school to study English.
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