Iorfa Akpen
Former Benue State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Fidelis Mnyim, Esq., has commenced legal action against suspected human traffickers linked to the disappearance of over 300 children from Guma Local Government Area of the state.
Mnyim, who is also the Chairman of the Benue State Human Trafficking Task Force, disclosed this on Wednesday when he appeared at the Federal High Court, Makurdi.
Speaking with journalists, Mnyim said he was in court to prosecute five cases bordering on the trafficking of the children, describing their disappearance as deeply distressing.
According to him, his decision to take up the cases is part of his commitment to give back to society and continue the fight against human trafficking in Benue State, a problem he became fully exposed to while in government.
He revealed that the cases involve more than 300 Benue children, mostly from Guma, and that some arrests have already been made in connection with the incidents.
Mnyim expressed concern that some of the children were allegedly sold to individuals for as little as N2 million, describing it as an unacceptable violation of their rights and dignity.
“I cannot close my eyes to see that this kind of issue is happening against the Benue child,” he said.
On the status of the cases, he explained that some were slated for hearing while others were for the taking of pleas by defendants appearing in court for the first time. He added that the court has adjourned the matters till next week for continuation.
Speaking on the root causes of trafficking in the state, the former Attorney General acknowledged that displacement has exposed vulnerable families to exploitation, but maintained that poverty alone does not explain the menace.
He listed lack of access to information, deception and exploitation of vulnerable families as key factors enabling traffickers.
He noted that while some children were criminally abducted, others, especially girls, were lured with false promises of jobs and better opportunities outside their communities.
Mnyim, however, identified displacement as a major factor in the Guma cases. According to him, many of the affected families were forced to flee their ancestral homes to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps, where hardship made them susceptible to deception.
He alleged that some parents were approached by individuals who claimed to be organizing a government-backed return-to-school programme for displaced children.
“The government is doing a return-to-school programme, give us your children,” Mnyim recounted, quoting the alleged deceit. He said the parents released their children after they were given food, but all communication ceased afterwards, leaving families uncertain about their children’s whereabouts.
The former Commissioner stressed that Benue State has enormous agricultural and economic potentials that should be harnessed to improve livelihoods and reduce vulnerability to trafficking, adding that vocational skills and agriculture offer viable alternatives for young people.
He vowed to sustain the fight until the root causes of trafficking are addressed, insisting that the battle must go beyond prosecution to tackling the conditions that make families vulnerable.
“We’ll continue to fight it until we get to the root cause,” he vowed.
