Yobe commissioner laments abuse of Almajiri children

News Agency Of Nigeria

March 27, 2024 10:12 AM

The commissioner said that the mass of IDPs in the state also served as a contributing factor in making the traffickers find their way.

File photo of some Almajiri children in northern Nigeria (Guardian)

Saleh Samanja, Yobe State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, says Arabic schools practice known as “Almajiri”, and the presence of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) aids human trafficking in the state.

Samanja said this on Tuesday while speaking with newsmen at the 26th National Stakeholders Consultative Forum (NSCF) on Human Trafficking in Abuja.

The commissioner said that the mass of IDPs in the state also served as a contributing factor in making the traffickers find their way. According to him, Yobe State is bordering the Niger Republic and there is a high tendency of taking people from Nigeria to Niger and other African Middle East countries for human trafficking.

“Yobe State is also used as an entry point into Niger, Libya, Morocco and, eventually to Spain in Europe; that makes the state vulnerable.

“We have a lot of challenges because of this. The “Almajiri” system is seriously being abused. A lot of unfortunate incidences happen as a result of the welfare, and protection of these children.

“These children are exploited for domestic work and this is most unfortunate. That is not the purpose of the “Almajiri” system. The purpose was to make them learn but it appears to be abused.

“Also, that we are one of the states that is being ravaged by insurgency creates another serious problem.

“We have a lot of people that are internally displaced and this creates a conducive atmosphere for traffickers, coupled with the level of poverty which has aggravated the situation,” he said.

The commissioner said that despite all the challenges, the state task force against human trafficking inaugurated in October 2023 was doing its best.

According to him, the state task force is doing all it can to carry out all the mandates of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act 2015 and is vigorously following up on all the plans set out for 2024.

Samanja said that the task force was brazing up to overcome the challenges, adding that it was collaborating with all the security agencies in the state. According to him, security agencies have made some sizeable arrests on human trafficking issues. After investigation, prosecution will commence very soon, he added.

In his remarks, Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, the Edo State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice said that cases of trafficking of the youth had reduced drastically in the state. He said that the state task force was working to address some of the root causes of trafficking, adding that it had led to the return of some of those who were trafficked out of the country.

Labaran Shuaibu-Magaji, the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Nasarawa State, disclosed the method the state was using to curb human trafficking in the state. He stated that Gov. Abdullahi Sule was focusing on agriculture to make the youths gainfully employed.

According to him, more than 2000 youths have been gainfully employed as a result of measures put in place to discourage human trafficking

News Agency Of Nigeria