A Civil Society Organization, the Safe House for Justice and Human Empowerment Centre, has called on the Federal Government to tackle the rising child trafficking and humanitarian crisis in Plateau State which it said came as a result of incessant attacks and displacement of thousands of people.
The Executive Director of the group, Edith Gumut, who made the appeal at a joint press conference to mark the 2025 World Humanitarian Day on Tuesday in Jos, stressed that cases of child trafficking in the state have risen astronomically in the last five years due to the current humanitarian crisis.
The press conference, which was organised by the CSO in collaboration with the Youth Initiative Against Violence and Human Rights Abuse and Mission for the Vulnerable and Displaced Persons, had the theme ‘Strengthening Global Solidarity and Empowering Local Communities’.
Gumut noted that the security situation in the state had impoverished many parents, forcing them to release their children for trafficking to make ends meet.
She lamented the fact that the security challenges in the state had also denied children access to quality education, healthcare, and other basic needs of life.
“Thousands of children already displaced and vulnerable have been torn from their families,” Gumut said.
“They are not in a place of safety; instead, they have been forced into labour on the farms of the privileged with the unthinkable approval of some community leaders.
“The rising humanitarian crisis in the state has stolen the childhood of these children and replaced it with back-breaking work and despair. Only recently, the state Ministry of Women Affairs rescued more than 300 children trafficked from various parts of the state,” she said.
Gumut also drew the attention of the government and relevant agencies to the rising cases of gender-based violence and early marriage by displaced women and young girls in the state.
“It is sad to note that displaced persons, many of them women and children, exhibit trauma-related symptoms like anxiety and depression. They live with constant threats of exploitation, their mental trauma a silent wound,” she said, while calling on the federal and state governments to support the activities of local non-governmental organisations in addressing the humanitarian needs and conflicts in Plateau.
CSO tasks Nigerian govt on tackling rising child trafficking in Plateau
