The Chairman of the State Council of Chiefs and Emirs, Gbong Gwom of Jos, Da Jacob Gyang Bubba has called for the re-certification and revalidation of orphanages and charity homes in Plateau state as a measure to get rid of child traffickers who, according him, use these homes for all forms of criminal activities against women and children.
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The call was made on Thursday at the monarch’s palace in Jos during the visit of Mr Adole Alexander, state Commandant of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).
According to the monarch, credible security reports have indicated that a number of orphanages across the country and even in Plateau State have been discovered to be baby-making factories rather than the charitable organisation they portray.
He commended the agency in the state for their intervention in rescuing quite a number of trafficked children and ensuring that most of them were reunited with their biological parents.
The monarch appealed to the National Assembly to make laws that will persecute not only the criminals convicted of trafficking in persons, but also those parents who intentionally trafficked or give out their wards for such criminality.
He said, “Trafficking in persons is an organized crime with a wide network of beneficiaries which requires huge intelligence gathering and stringent government policies and penalties to discourage perpetrators of the crime.”
Meanwhile, the state Commandant of the agency disclosed that a total of 200 trafficked children from orphanages in the state have been rescued.
Mr. Adole Alexander highlighting some of the achievements of his agency in the state said, “About 200 trafficked children mostly from Riyom and Bassa Local Government Areas (LGAs), the prosecution in Court of a foreigner who abused a minor as well as the discovery of a baby factory in Gwarandok area of Jos amongst others”
“The agency has the capacity to do more but as a new Command they are faced with lack of operational vehicles to effect mass arrests as well as a secured office accommodation facility to keep in custody those under detention.”
