The Oba of Benin, Ewuare II, chief priests and some palace chiefs yesterday placed deadly curses on sponsors and perpetrators of all forms of social vices that hinder development in the state and put the image of the kingdom at disrepute.
This is as Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki asked members of the state House of Assembly to expedite work on a bill aimed at prohibiting trafficking in persons and establish Edo State Task Force Against Trafficking in Persons.
The ceremony which had in attendance, priests, priestesses, native doctors, traditional religious worshippers, Bini chiefs, dukes, village heads, market women, shrine worshippers, directors and officials of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) as well as the diplomatic corps and security agencies heralded the hardline stance taken by the Oba in tackling the ugly menace in the state.
Assorted charms, amulets and others items that give potency to the sacrifices were brought out in public glare by some native doctors, who wore red attires and drawn from across the seven local government areas of the south senatorial district of the state. Live goat, fowls and other animals were slaughtered to offer sacrifices to the ancestors and gods at the corner of the palace where the powers of the ancestors were invoked with incantations to boost the positive effect of the curses.
The Oba Ewuare II through the odiowerre (clan leaders) placed the curses on all the pastors, churches, individuals, groups, families and parents, who promote, indulge, contract or participate or encourage perpetrators in any of the vices. Also cursed were the native doctors who subject the perpetrators of the heinous crimes to oath of secrecies, cultists, violators of the order banning Community Development Associations and others whose businesses are to initiate the sons and daughters of the ancient kingdom into various cult groups.
Oba Ewuare warned those aiding and abetting human trafficking through the use of black magic and subjecting the victims to the oath of secrecies to desist or face the wrath of the gods and the ancestors of the land. “You native doctors whose business are to subject people to the oath of secrecies and encouraging this evil act on the land, you have to repent, stop doing it.
This is not a joking matter and if you do not repent, you have to wait for the repercussion,” he said. He said the palace was not against native doctors but frown at those who use native powers to perpetrate evil in the state by aiding and abetting human trafficking. The monarch declared that henceforth those who are under oath of secrecies have been set free and are free to air their views and reveal their sponsors without fear.
“We want to use this medium to tell those who are under any oaths of secrecies that they are now free. We revoke the oath today,” he prayed. The monarch said the interest of the palace is to work for the development and progress of the state and that all hands must be on deck to work towards that direction by doing what is right. He said: “What the palace stands for is peace and the development of the state.
I want to use this medium to tell you that the act of using charms to aid trafficking, the palace seriously frowns at it. We want us to join hands together to fight against human trafficking in the land.” He said there had been reports about Edo State and that such positive report must be sustained.
The Oba also noted that Obaseki has pleaded with him to help reduce the spate of human trafficking in the state adding that before now, he has been in the vanguard against human trafficking in the state. Meanwhile, Obaseki in his message to the state assembly said: “The state government has adopted a multipronged approach which includes a law, aggressive campaigns at markets and across the broad spectrum of the media, stakeholder engagements, and partnerships with the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) and international governments and bodies, in tackling the menace.”
He also appealed to the lawmakers to accelerate action on the Bill for the establishment of the Edo State Development and Property Agency, which the governor said would revolutionize the state’s housing sector.
“The state government envisions a robust housing sector with huge private sector investment that will address the housing and infrastructural deficit in the state. We are ready to replicate best practices in the built industry to ensure that standards in the industry are adhered to across the value chain,” he said.
