By Joy Odigie
Benin – The European Union (EU) Parliament said on Friday in Benin that it would collaborate with the Edo Government to tackle illegal migration and human trafficking in the state.
Dr Josef Weidenholzer, Chairman, Sub-Committee on Human Rights, EU Parliament, disclosed this when he led a delegation from the parliament on a courtesy visit to Gov. Godwin Obaseki.
Weidenholzer said that helping the state to curb illegal migration would strengthen the existing ties between EU and Nigeria and would create a win-win situation for both partners.
“We want to improve the stable relationship the EU has with Nigeria and set up a common agenda in tackling trafficked migration, since the people are actually forced into the phenomenon.
“We are here to find a common solution because there is no point in just sharing the problem. I think we have to share the solutions,” he said.
He commended the state government for the steps it had taken to curb the menace, saying that the EU was ready to give the needed support.
“It is a good starting point on the part of the governor if he wants to create an enabling environment for people in the state to see a future.
“We are here to give him the support. Edo can become a model for a new relationship between Europe and Africa,’’ Weidenholzer said.
In his response, Obaseki said the EU could help in investigating and getting intelligence reports on illegal migration from the state as well as in tracking and prosecuting human traffickers.
The governor said that the EU could, more importantly, give hope and skills to young people being trafficked.
He said that the state government had started tackling the menace but needed additional support for training the deported migrants in the state.
He said the state needed to give vocational training to between 3,000 and 5,000 youths in the state, who were returned from Libya by the Federal Government.
Where are the teachers; where are the facilities? We need massive support and not necessarily cash but the skills and the knowledge.
“That way, we can give hope to young men and women that they are not useless to themselves,’’ the governor said.
Obaseki said that his administration was creating employment for the youths through agriculture and vocational training.
He said that government was rehabilitating the Benin Technical College.
“The workshops and laboratories have to be furnished. We have to recruit teachers and they need to be sent abroad for training.
“So, these are some of the areas technical support and skill could be provided for,” the governor said.