FOR those, who doubted the efficacy of the curse on human traffickers by the Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare 11, the calls on trafficked girls to come and take their pubic hairs and pants from shrines are indeed a direct response to the doubts.

Saturday Vanguard learnt that native doctors, who hitherto held the power of life and death over the girls, are now terrified to the extent of reaching out to them through emissaries.

The native doctors in Edo State and other states, whose charms are known to have sustained the trafficking business, were gathered to have been uncomfortable since the Benin monarch made the pronouncement. For many years, human trafickers, sponsors of girls to Europe where they are forced to engage in prostitution to pay back their sponsors who are fondly called “madams.”

It is simply sex slavery. The trade had badly damaged Nigeria’s image abroad. Most of the girls are Edo indigenes. Complying with the order Saturday Vanguard recalls that the Oba recently placed a curse on human traffickers, cult-related killers and other criminals perpetrating crime in the state to complement the efforts of the state government in the war against human traffickers.

The Oba had dug out juju that had not been exposed to sunlight for 800 years to place the curse. However, it was learnt that the frightened native doctors had called the parents of some of the girls to come for the items they used in administrating some oaths, as most of them were no longer comfortable keeping them in their shrine.

The decision to call the victims’ parents instead of the traffickers, who hitherto owned the properties before the Oba’s pronouncement, was to ensure that some stubborn traffickers do not hold on to them.

Reliable sources told Saturday Vanguard in Benin City that the traffickers are devastated by the fact that the development has made it impossible for them to recoup their investment in the trade.

Italy, Germany, France, and Russia

Consequently, some of them have commenced complying with the order in Italy, Germany, France and Russia and India. However, it was gathered that some maintained that since they were not indigenes of the state, their trafficked victims would still pay the money used in taking them outside the shores of Nigeria.

For instance, an Igbo woman was said to have granted freedom to her victim in India, while some are hell-bent on being paid in defiance of the royal curse.

Expectedly, there is much compliance from the trafficked victims, who Saturday Vanguard gathered have refused to make further payment to their traffickers. Some of the girls are coming together as a group to be able to form a formidable force to battle their respective traffickers. Calls from Europe and Asia Special Assistant to the state governor on Anti-Human Trafficking, Comrade Solomon Okonduwa, said his office is being inundated with calls from Europe and Asia over the effects of the curse by Oba of Benin.

Okonduwa said: “The impact of the Oba’s pronouncement has gone a long way to free our girls from the hands of these Madams in Italy and native doctors who are in possession of the girls’ personal belongings like pubic hairs, and pants among others.

“Some of the native doctors are calling their parents in Nigeria to come and take their properties out of the shrine in compliance with the directive of the Oba of Benin. Some of the girls in Europe are rejoicing while some are crying that their traffickers have not yielded to the voice of the Oba.

“An indigene of the state, whether the person is Esan or Edo North, is under the leadership of the Oba of Benin. Some are raising some issues that the pronouncement is for only Edo people, but we want to say that even an Igbo man or Yoruba who takes any Edo indigene to Europe, will be affected by the curse. As long as the person commits that offence in any part of Edo State, he will be affected. They should understand that those that disobeyed the Oba in the past had stories to tell.

Disobeying the Oba

“Those who have been freed, have been sent packing by their traffickers. But some of these girls have no place to stay after being sent away by their traffickers. We are referring them to some Non-Governmental Organisations, NGOs, who are into charity in Europe. The NGOs will take care of them so that they will not be sleeping at train stations.

“Most of the girls that have gone to these NGOs have renounced prostitution. These NGOs are assisting them. Those who want to live responsibly are being taken care of. Those in India, Russia, and France have some NGOs. We got a report from India that a trafficker who is from Edo State allowed her victim to go but an Igbo woman insisted that the girl must pay the money on the grounds that she is not from Edo State. We received that call three days ago. There is compliance in Italy, Germany, France and Russia.

“We still have many of them in Africa and we are monitoring the situation seriously.”

Juju priests on the run

Also speaking, the Benin Zonal Commander of National Agency for Prohibition and Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, Mr. Nduka Nwanwenne, noted that: “Most of the juju priests are on the run. There was one we wanted to arrest three days ago but he ran away. There was a lady that was summoned to appear before the juju priest we also tried to track the man but he got wind of it and took off.

“The victims have also refused to make further payment to their traffickers. It has been a positive development. We have seen situations where most of these victims are now free to talk which will help us during prosecution in the court. And the Oba’s pronouncement is going beyond Edo State. I visited Agbor where I met with a traditional ruler and I know what he said. The effect is so much. There has been positive development so far and it has made our jobs easier.”

However, a Benin lady based in Spain, who pleaded anonymity, informed that apart from the effect on the business of trafficking, some girls who were in transit to Europe have been abandoned in Libya.

She said: “The Oba’s curse is affecting the businesses of the Madams and they are all scared now. The girls who are already in Libya on their way to Europe as of the time of the Oba’s declaration are now stranded in Libya. The Madams have decided that since Oba has placed a curse on them, they will no longer carry on with the trade. So, they are no longer sending money for the upkeep of the girls in Libya from where they would have moved some to Europe. The girls are now stranded in Libya.

“The situation is causing pains to these girls in Libya because usually, the Madams who will take them to Italy are the ones in charge of their feeding, transportation, and other expenses in Libya.

“Now that the Oba has placed the curse, they have completely abandoned these girls in Libya and those girls are now vulnerable with all kinds of things.

•Excerpted from a Saturday Vanguard report.

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