NGO To Empower 20 Survival Migrants In Edo, Laments Huge Number Of Street Kids In Nigeria

As part to measures to help remove homeless children from the streets and reduce incessant human trafficking and irregular migration, Emmanuel World Children Foundation said they are ready to empower 20 girls in various skills, after rescuing them from from prostitution in Senegal and other countries.

 Addressing journalists after a meeting with different NGOs in Edo State, Mr. Emmanuel Adaramola, the executive director, Emmanuel World Children Foundation lamented the high rate of irregular migration and increase of street kids in Nigeria as a result of insecurity, poverty, unemployment and many other factors. 

He said the organization’s focus is to make sure the number of irregular migration and street kids are reduced to the barest minimum.

He said, “Emmanuel World Children Foundation, a non-governmental organization, started 26 years ago. Our focus is to work with children, orphans and other vulnerable people in the society. Our head office in Akure, Ondo State.

“We work in six different thematic areas, we have a shelter where we give items to people that are in need. We have a community, rural areas for development. We support community for self advancement.

“We also have capacity building development for people that work with the children. Lastly, we work in the area of human trafficking, which actually, is the area that brought us to Edo State”.

Adaramola said the organization has 20 survivals of 61 rescued from human trafficking and illegal migration and 20 of them are from Edo State.

“We have 61 survivals that we are working with from Senegal and 20 out of the 61 survivals are from Edo State. What we do with their data is family tracing, family integration, assessment and trying to help the survivors to start a vocation and also empower them to fit into the society and get their lives back on track. These are some of the things we are doing.

 We are in the state to start a support group,” he explained. 

He further explained on how International partners had helped rescue the girls from a hotel in Senegal.

Mr. Emmanuel said, “Free The Slave (FTS) have its Regional office in Africa, Ghana. They are in USA and Senegal and other countries in the world.

“They are our partners that actually rescued the girls that were trafficked to Senegal and other countries; put those girls in shelters and did a lot of psychosocial supports for them, then make arrangement for the victims to come back to Nigeria”.

According to him, his organization received the survivors and are ensuring they are reintegrated into society.

“We on our own received them at the Airport. From the airport we took over and worked together through correspondence to ensure the victims or girls settle in Nigeria and reintegrated back to the society.

“Free the Slave initiative are our major partner in curbing irregular migration,” he stated.

Speaking on plans for the street kids, Mr. Emmanuel Adaramola said, “We have been working with street kids for years, and we have a lot of them today that are successful, married and doing well. Now they are responsible adults after spending more years on the streets. 

“Presently, we are working to enlarge that aspect of our work. We are presently building a 50-bed facility majorly for street kids”.

Inmates will be there for six months. 

“Within that six months, they will be undergoing vocational training and also be sheltered them in the same compound so that they will be able to learn and graduate and become independent,” he added.

According to him, after the training, the organization will look for a way to empower them.

“After they finish, like what we are doing for the girls now, we will look for a way of empowering them. We are working with the street kids to ensure they are empowered and have a means of livelihood”. 

The number of street kids is increasing, he stated.

“According to our statistics, the number of street kids are increasing everyday due to several factors like broken homes, insecurity, poverty, unemployment.

“Our aim in the next two years, is to set up an innovation hub within the environment to work together where we will get resources for them to expand,” he emphasized.

He said the foundation works with rural and poor communities for self-help and development through capacity building and linkages to opportunities.

In their testimonies, some of the survivors to be empower who spoke about their experience said trafficking them to Senegal to do prostitution was a miserable experience for them and waste of time in their lives.

“It was not what the traffickers told us when we were leaving Nigeria that we were doing when we got to Senegal.

“Even the journey by road from Nigeria to Senegal is not a safe route. We took a lot of risks. When I was in Senegal, my madam tricked me that,  if I get to Senegal,  I am going to continue my education there, which we agreed not knowing that l am going there to do prostitute job,” she added.

Another survivor said, it was not easy for them in Senegal doing prostitution. 

“I am advising any lady that wants to travel to ask questions. If the trafficker is not specific of the job she wants to do, she should not travel out at all. 

“For us, we suffered so many untold human hardship in Senegal,” she lamented.