North West Governor, Adolphe Lele Lafrique
Northwest Governor, AdolphevLelevL’Arique, recently donated FCFA 200,000 to assist girls who were recently repatriated from Kuwait.
The donation was made while inaugurating the Human Rights Advocacy Centre at Ade-Meta in Bamenda recently, Nkumu-Fed-Fed, a Bali based NGO that operates in areas of human rights, education, health and social inclusion amongst others.
Speaking during the inauguration Centre in the Ade-Metal neighbourhood in Bamenda, Governor Lele, while handing over the donation, said Government will use all means available to put an end to this modern slavery.
“We condemn this kind of slavery and those who facilitate this act - call them middlemen - shall be in trouble with us if they don’t stop this trade,”Lele said while lauding the efforts of Nkumu Fed-Fed in fighting child trafficking for 20 years, and promised to assist the organisation in the struggle.
“As the personal representative of the Head of State, I am, by this note of appreciation, assuring Nkumu Fed-Fed that all Regional, Divisional Delegates, including forces of law and order, will join me to stamp-out this disgraceful act of trafficking in humans which our Region ranks first,” Lele stated.
The Governor appreciated the African Women Development Fund, AWDF, for the enormous assistance it has given Nkumu Fed-Fed in this arduous task of human trafficking.
To ensure that the campaign against human trafficking has been officially launched in the Northwest, Governor Lele L’Afrique visited major travel agencies like Grand Jeannot, Vatican, Amour Mezam, Gurantee, Moghamo, Musango, Mondial and cautioned the proprietors of the agencies to sensitise their drivers who, at times, accept to transport these children, to know that it is criminal and punishable by Law.
The Proprietor of Grand Jeannot, Jeremia Penn Ndoh, in the company of his brother, popularly known as “White Man,” assured the Governor that their agency would not tolerate any act of human trafficking.
“We are, by joining the Governor in affixing the stickers, ‘Stop Human Trafficking In the Northwest Region’, ‘No to Bus Transportation of Human Traffickers – A message from Nkumu Fed-Fed and AWDF,” taking a firm commitment to eradicate this ill by tracking all middlemen who might showup at our various bus stations to dispatch these children to slave masters in and out of Cameroon.
Penn Ndoh told the Governor that six girls from Momo Division from four families were recently brought to Jeannot by agents of human trafficking and, following their interrogation, the unidentified middleman escaped and abandoned the children.
“Luckily, one of them had the telephone number of their relatives and we alerted them to come and take back the children,” Penn said.
At Vatican-Express, the Governor was handed a female Fulani child that was abandoned by traffickers and for several days, the child survived on the goodwill of persons who offered her food and other needs. The Governor immediately handed the child to Nkumu Fed Fed, while investigations continue.
The Coordinator of Nkumu Fed-Fed Advocacy Centre Bamenda, Christina Tankoh, said the centre has 54 registered girls, some victims from Kuwait; others are victims from big cities in Cameroon as well as vulnerable children. She thanked the Governor for coming to comfort the children as a father.
Beatrice Tita said there are over 100 girls in Kuwait begging to be liberated and brought back home.
“We shall continue to be whistle blowers to most remote areas and towns to terminate human trafficking,” she said.
The National President of Nkumu Fed Fed, Na Hellen Lega Gwanyama, alongside Justice Prudence, said since 2005, Nkumu Fed-Fed has been working in collaboration with the International LabourOrganisation, ILO, on child trafficking issues.
It has rehabilitated more than 200 victims of child trafficking, withdrawn from unsafe environment and are well taken care of at the main campus situated at Gwan Multi-Purpose Centre in Bali Nyonga Subdivision of the Northwest.
They revealed that one of the girls from Kuwait died last December and was buried in Bamenda.
The Vice President of the Northwest Administrative Court, who equally doubles as the President of the Northwest Task Force Against Human Trafficking, said they have been working hand-in-glove with Nkumu Fed Fed and promised traffickers hard times.
