Recently, news of young and able African migrants risking it all, voyaging through the torturous, isolated routes of the war torn Libyan Nation as well as its arid deserts plagued with inhuman practices such as abduction and slave trade, murder, violent rape, illicit harvest and sale of human organs et-al after which a few “lucky ones” who made it alive face the frigid temperatures of the Mediterranean sea, ferried on hyper-crowded & unstable inflatable rubber boats in a quest for Eldorado at the mercy of untamed ocean currents which often drift their sojourn to a bitter end has rented the air on global news media stations like CNN, BBC, Channels TV to mention a few.
More disturbing is the revelation by CNN’s Senior International Correspondent, Nima Elbagir who went undercover on the trade route to touch base with root causes, submitted that Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria is the headquarters of human trafficking in Africa. On the one hand, seasoned scholars of history revere Benin Kingdom in high esteem owing to its rich and sophisticated monarchical structure, arts and cultural heritage, others revere the city for its ancient traditional values embroiled with deep metaphysical potency second to none (I stand corrected), these and other admirable reasons have earned the ancient Benin Kingdom its place in African history.
On the other hand, a part of its significant reputation, as a spiritual fortress has been negatively exploited by mischief makers who expose some keepers of this sacred traditional value to greed in a foul search for fortune which in turn, incorporates these keepers as stakeholders in the value chain of the dark trade of human trafficking. Little wonder, most human trafficking agents take their subjects to renowned marabouts and shrines in Benin City to make these subjects swear an oath of allegiance and commitment to pay their principals a huge sum ranging between €30,000 – €35,000 for a sponsored trip to Europe in a fictitious feat to escape poverty.
For the vulnerable and naive young girls, the illicit trade of prostitution becomes the beckoning lifeline to offset this debt upon arriving Europe or risk grave mental illness and ultimately, death upon default owing to the initial deposit of personal items e.g. a lock of pubic hair, used personal undergarments as collateral to seal their contract through a sacred oath!
In dare concern to save gullible young girls and boys from this scourge, stakeholders of Edo State including the Governor; Mr. Godwin Obaseki met to brainstorm ways to rein these perpetrators in as well as salvage the name of their respected ancient kingdom from this appalling trend.
Against this backdrop, the Oba of Benin; Oba Ewuare II convened a meeting summoning all the Native Doctors, Benin high Chiefs, Priests and Priestesses, Eniges, Odionweres etc. to unanimously place a curse on the agents of human trafficking in broad daylight thus invoking a rare charm which has not been exposed to sunlight for over 800 years according to Vanguardngr.com 10th March, 2018 publication in a bid to curb this menace. Adopting the statement of the Oba of Benin, the essence of the ritual is to cleanse all trafficked victims from whatever oath they may have sworn as well as reroute its repercussion on the perpetrators. Furthermore, Oba Ewuare II urged victims of trafficking to speak out where ever they are. Interestingly, his call has been heeded to as various girls in the diaspora plying the illicit trade of street escorts due to trafficking and fear of retribution have started to speak out through various social media platforms thus exposing the where about of their principals.
Out of respect for their courage to speak out on such sensitive issue, I wondered if these girls would boldly speak out, if this charge were from a Bishop, Prophet or Prophetess, Pastor, General Overseer, Chief Imam and what have you? In other words, I was amazed about how a declaration from the Oba emboldened these victims to go public. A certain girl recounted that after taking her oath in Benin, she felt emotionally overwhelmed and ran to a Pastor for succour but the Pastor requested the sum of N400,000 to break the curse… a fee she could not afford by virtue of the unguided desperation that led to her predicament. If orthodox faith makes us belief that “gods must be crazy” how then are the values of faith eroding swiftly on the altar of materialism, altering disillusioned minds to find succour in unorthodox belief in reverence for their undiluted values? Should Oba Ewuare II’s pronouncement stem the tide of human trafficking in Benin city and cleanse victims far and wide from the wrath of their oath, then it begs the question; what is the role of the church and mosque in setting the captives free as is the mission of renaissance in faith?
Written by Kolajo Augustine Onijamah.
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