Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery Poverty drives the unsuspecting poor into the
hands of traffickers Published
reports & articles from 2000 to 2025 gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Nigeria.htm
Nigeria is a source,
transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked for the
purposes of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation. Within Nigeria,
women and girls are trafficked primarily for domestic servitude and
commercial sexual exploitation. Boys are trafficked for forced labor in
street vending, agriculture, mining, stone quarries, and as domestic
servants. Religious teachers also traffic boys, called almajiri,
for forced begging. - U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2009 Check
out a later country report here and possibly a full TIP Report here |
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CAUTION:
The following links have been culled from
the web to illuminate the situation in HOW TO USE THIS WEB-PAGE Students If you are looking
for material to use in a term-paper, you are advised to scan the postings on this
page and others to see which aspects of Human Trafficking are of particular
interest to you. Would you like to
write about Forced-Labor? Debt
Bondage? Prostitution? Forced Begging? Child Soldiers? Sale of Organs? etc. On the other
hand, you might choose to include precursors of trafficking such as poverty and hunger. There is a lot to
the subject of Trafficking. Scan other
countries as well. Draw comparisons
between activity in adjacent countries and/or regions. Meanwhile, check out some of the Term-Paper resources
that are available on-line. Teachers Check out some of
the Resources
for Teachers attached to this website. HELP for Victims NAPTIP - National Agency
for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and Other related Matters ***
FEATURED ARTICLE *** Babies bred for
sale in Nigeria Agence France-Presse AFP, www.mg.co.za/article/2008-11-09-babies-bred-for-sale-in-nigeria [accessed 13
December 2010] www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/uncategorized/nigerian-babies-bred-for-sale/3501/ [accessed 13 January
2020] Neighbours were suspicious of
the daytime silence at the maternity clinic that came to life only after
nightfall, though never suspected its disquieting secret -- it was breeding
babies for sale. But recent police
raids have revealed an alleged network of such clinics, dubbed baby
"farms" or "factories" in the local press, forcing a new
look at the scope of people trafficking in The doctor in charge,
who is now on trial, reportedly lured teenagers with unwanted pregnancies by
offering to help with abortion. They
would be locked up there until they gave birth, whereupon they would be
forced to give up their babies for a token fee of around 20 000 naira
($170). The babies would then be sold
to buyers for anything between 300 000 and 450 000 naira ($2 500 and $3 800)
each, according to a state agency fighting human trafficking in Nigeria, the
National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (Naptip). Allan Little, BBC
correspondent news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/3632203.stm [accessed 13
December 2010] It starts with the
promise of a better life. The parents
are taken in. The children are persuaded. When they leave home they do so
willingly, with some excitement, not trepidation. The trafficker has promised a good job, a
schooling, a regular income. But that is not how it works out. allafrica.com/stories/200708160019.html firefox-article.blogspot.com/2010/09/child-abuse-and-human-trafficking.html [accessed 13
December 2010] [scroll down] Head of National
Agency for the Prohibition and Trafficking in Persons and other Related
Matters (NAPTIP), The victims who are
mainly teenagers, he added, engaged in prostitution overseas. WANTED: the right
to refuse Maffie Black, New
Internationalist 337, August 2001 www.newint.org/features/2001/08/05/wanted/ [accessed 13
December 2010] Take a look at
article one of the Supplementary Convention on Slavery and you will see as
one definition: ‘Any practice whereby a woman, without the right to refuse,
is given in marriage in payment of a consideration in money or in kind ...’ How about a story?
Just one, about Hauwa Abukar,
a Nigerian girl who died aged 12. Her family had married her to an older man
to whom they owed money. She was unhappy and kept running away, but because
of the debt her parents were obliged to return her. Finally, her husband
chopped off her legs with an axe to prevent her absconding again. She died
from starvation, shock and loss of blood. No legal action was taken. ***
ARCHIVES *** The Fight Against
Human Trafficking In Nigeria Simone Riggins, The Borgen Project, 23 February 2021 borgenproject.org/human-trafficking-in-nigeria/ [accessed 23
February 2021] THE SITUATION IN
NIGERIA --
Though Nigeria is rich with natural resources, several issues exist such as a
lack of job opportunities, social injustices, exclusion and discrimination.
All of these make many individuals vulnerable to human trafficking. Due to
weak child protection laws and family protection services, many women and
children are subject to exploitation. Traffickers most commonly smuggle these
victims of human trafficking in Nigeria into foreign countries. The U.S.
State Department Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons has
found Nigerian trafficking victims in more than 34 countries, with most of
them in Europe. Survivors of
Nigeria's 'baby factories' share their stories Girls who fled Boko
Haram attacks are being enslaved and raped by human traffickers who then sell
their babies Philip Obaji Jr., Al Jazeera News, 3 May 2020 www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/survivors-nigeria-baby-factories-share-stories-200420091556574.html [accessed 11 May
2020] Baby factories are
more common in the southeastern part of Nigeria, where security operatives
have carried out several raids, including an operation last year when 19
pregnant girls and four children were rescued. Women and girls are
held captive to deliver babies who are then sold illegally to adoptive
parents, forced into child labour, trafficked into
prostitution or, as several reports suggest, ritually killed. "Boys are more
expensive than girls in the baby sale business," says Comfort Agboko, head of the southeastern arm of Nigeria's
anti-trafficking agency, the National Agency for the Prohibition of
Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), at her office in Enugu. "Male children
are often sold for between 700,000 naira (about $2,000) to one million naira
(about $2,700) while female babies are sold for between 500,000 naira (about
$1,350) and 700,000 naira." The majority of the
buyers are couples who have been unable to conceive. The Nigerian human
trafficking mafia in Europe Bob Koigi, Fair Planet, 18 March 2020 www.fairplanet.org/story/the-nigerian-human-trafficking-mafia-in-europe/ [accessed 23 March
2020] The journey begins
in the West African country where naive and unsuspecting girls are approached
by people they know with offers of jobs or education abroad. Most of these
girls are from poor backgrounds and the chance of employment excites them.
Terms of payment are discussed and agreed upon including repayment of the
cost they would incur in airfare and accommodation. Before they leave, a
black ceremony is performed on them including casting a spell to ensure that
they never run away from their employers and commit them to refund for their
expenses. The rituals usually include slaughtering of an animal and drinking
of its blood. Once they set sail for Europe through the dangerous
Mediterranean Sea route the agony begins. Upon arrival they are introduced to
‘madams’ who are usually part of the trafficking syndicate and are used as
pimps. The girls’ passports are confiscated and they are forced into sex
slavery in the most humiliating and deplorable conditions. The trade has
particularly flourished in Germany, Italy and France. Nigerian Human
Trafficking Victims Rebuild Their Lives After Returning Home Timothy Obiezu, VOA, Abuja, 25 August 2019 www.voanews.com/africa/nigerian-human-trafficking-victims-rebuild-their-lives-after-returning-home [accessed 27 August
2019] For 35-year-old
Beatrice, it was an offer she couldn't resist. A job, the traffickers told her in 2013, on
a large Italian farm. She took the bait,
thinking she could help pull her father and mother out of poverty by working
abroad. Instead, after
being smuggled into Italy under extremely dire traveling conditions, she was
forced into prostitution to earn money for her traffickers. "A friend of
mine introduced me, he said, 'look at this place, you're going to work there
on the farm.' He did not tell me I'm going to do prostitution, so I said it's
very nice let me try. At the end of the day we passed through Libya, took a
ship, a lot of people died,” Beatrice said. Beatrice was there
for four years. She's from Nigeria's southern State of Edo, known to contribute
the highest number of trafficked women from Nigeria. More than 11,000 of
them are estimated to be working as sex slaves in Italy alone. Beatrice says her
suffering was unbearable. "If you don't
come back with money, they'll beat you up, do different things. They give you
fresh pepper, you know how it is if it got to your eyes. They'll tell you to
put it in your vagina. Even if you're menstruating you'll still go out to
work,” Beatrice said. Nigeria government
'detaining' trafficking survivors: Report Al Jazeera News, 27
August 2019 www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/08/nigeria-government-detaining-trafficking-survivors-report-190827085056733.html [accessed 27 August
2019] According to a
Human Rights Watch report, survivors of human trafficking are being locked up
in shelters by government. According to the
report, the Nigerian government is illegally detaining survivors of human trafficking, inhibiting the recovery of the traumatised survivors from the experiences they went
through. "The Nigerian
authorities are actually detaining trafficking survivors in shelters, not
allowing them to leave at will, in violation of Nigeria’s international legal
obligations," the New York-based rights body said. "The
detentions overwhelmingly affect women and girls, and put their recovery and
well-being at risk." The report is based
on interviews with 76 survivors, 20 of them girls between the ages 8 and 17,
who either were trafficked out of Nigeria and later returned, or were
trafficked into the country. Three survivors of
human trafficking share their stories LIFE IN LIMBO UN Women, 29 July
2019 - originally published on Medium.com/@UN_Women www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2019/7/compilation-trafficking-survivors-share-stories [accessed 30 July
2019] In Libya, Mary
found herself in peril. “Ben took two of us girls one night. He gave the
other girl to another man, and he said to me if I didn't sleep with him, he
would give me to another man and not bring me to Europe. He raped me,” Mary
says. She wanted out but
had no means of contacting anyone back home. “I had to stay there for months
until they called me to go on the boat,” she says. When she was
finally put on a boat to Italy, Mary was informed she would be living in a
camp and work as a prostitute—unjust conditions that she had never agreed to
and couldn’t escape. “I can't go stand
on the side of the road in the name of money," she says, her voice
rising. "I have a future. Standing there, selling myself,
would destroy my life. My dignity. Everything.” Now, the people who
paid Mary’s way to Italy are demanding money and threatening her mother back
in Nigeria. Her voice falters as she explains that, “they said they would do
something very bad to her if I don't send money.” Trafficking
Survivors Agnes Odhiambo, Senior Researcher, Women's Rights Division,
Human Rights Watch, 4 July 2019 www.hrw.org/news/2019/07/04/uk-gets-it-wrong-human-trafficking-nigeria [accessed 8 July
2019] The Home Office’s claims
ignore the reality in Nigeria. I have recently completed research for an
upcoming Human Rights Watch report on abuses that women and girls trafficked
within and outside Nigeria suffer, and the assistance they receive when they
are identified or return home. Many told me about suffering horrible abuses
at the hands of their traffickers, including being exploited through forced
prostitution and other forms of forced labor in slavery-like conditions. They
told me they were raped, beaten, threatened with death, held in debt bondage,
and not allowed to communicate with their families. Many said they had no
options and wished to return to Nigeria. But their abuse did
not end after returning home. Many said they returned penniless, to worse
economic situations, and with mental trauma, physical injuries, and
illnesses. Although some women and girls returned to supportive families,
others said their families blamed them for returning home without money, or
abused, mocked, and ostracized the survivors, compounding their trauma. They
said they were humiliated in their communities for returning from abroad with
nothing, or for being victims of sexual exploitation. 2020 Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices: Nigeria U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, 30 March 2021 www.state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/nigeria/
[accessed 20 June
2021] PROHIBITION OF FORCED
OR COMPULSORY LABOR Forced labor
remained with reports of women and girls subjected to forced labor in
domestic service, and boys subjected to forced labor in street vending,
domestic service, mining, stone quarrying, agriculture, and begging. PROHIBITION OF CHILD
LABOR AND MINIMUM AGE FOR EMPLOYMENT Children engaged in
the worst forms of child labor identified in the country including:
commercial agriculture and hazardous farm work (cocoa, cassava); street
hawking; exploitative cottage industries such as iron and other metal works;
hazardous mechanical workshops; exploitative and hazardous domestic work;
commercial fishing; exploitative and hazardous pastoral and herding
activities; construction; transportation; mining and quarrying; prostitution and
pornography; forced and compulsory labor and debt bondage; forced
participation in violence, criminal activity, and ethnic, religious, and
political conflicts; and involvement in drug peddling. Many children
worked as beggars, street peddlers, and domestic servants in urban areas.
Children also worked in the agricultural sector and in mines. Boys were
forced to work as laborers on farms, in restaurants, for small businesses,
and in granite mines, as well as street peddlers and beggars. Girls worked
involuntarily as domestic servants and street peddlers. Freedom House
Country Report 2020 Edition freedomhouse.org/country/nigeria/freedom-world/2020 [accessed 8 July
2020] G4. DO INDIVIDUALS
ENJOY EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY AND FREEDOM FROM ECONOMIC EXPLOITATION? Nigerian organized
crime groups are heavily involved in human trafficking. Boko Haram has
subjected children to forced labor and sex slavery. Both Boko Haram and a civilian
vigilante group that opposes the militants have forcibly recruited child
soldiers, according to the US State Department. Meanwhile,
implementation of the 2003 Child Rights Act, which protects children from
sexual exploitation and other abuses, remains uneven; a UNICEF child
protection specialist noted that 11 northern states have not implemented the
legislation during public remarks delivered 2019. The National Agency
for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) continues to rescue
trafficking victims and prosecute some suspected traffickers, but its funding
is reportedly inadequate, and there have been few prosecutions against labor
traffickers. Survivors of trafficking operations often find their freedom of
movement withheld by NAPTIP in poorly-managed shelters, and experience
discrimination when seeking access to public services after their release. 2017 Findings on
the Worst Forms of Child Labor Office of Child
Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking, Bureau of International Labor
Affairs, US Dept of Labor, 2018 www.dol.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ilab/ChildLaborReport_Book.pdf [accessed 22 April
2019] www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ILAB/child_labor_reports/tda2017/ChildLaborReportBook.pdf [accessed 4 May
2020] Note:: Also check out this country’s report in the more recent edition DOL
Worst Forms of Child Labor [page 759] In northern
Nigeria, many families send children from rural to urban areas to live with
Islamic teachers, known as mallams, and receive a Koranic
education. These children, known as almajiri, may
receive lessons, but teachers often force them to beg on the streets and
surrender the money they collect. (29; 30; 31) Furthermore, these children
are highly vulnerable to recruitment by Boko Haram. (31) Benin City, the
capital of Edo state, is a major human trafficking hub in Africa. (32; 33)
Girls from Nigeria are sent to North Africa and Europe for forced labor and
commercial sexual exploitation. (33; 34; 35; 36; 37; 38) Children from West
African countries experience forced labor in Nigeria, including in granite
mines, begging, agriculture, and domestic work. (3; 23; 39; 40) Boko Haram forcibly
recruited and used child soldiers during the reporting period. (4; 3) Reports
indicate that children were recruited to participate in combat operations and
act as spies, messengers, porters, body guards, and cooks. (27; 41) Children
were also forced to act as suicide bombers. (4) The terrorist group also
subjected girls to forced labor and sexual servitude. (3; 41) The Civilian
Joint Task Force (CJTF), a non-state self-defense militia involved in
fighting Boko Haram, continued to recruit and use children to conduct
security searches, gather intelligence, man checkpoints, and apprehend
suspected insurgents. (27; 28) The CJTF also reportedly used some children
recovered from Boko Haram to lead CJTF and army personnel to Boko Haram
camps, putting these children at serious risk for retaliation and denying
them victim care. Although the Government of Nigeria has officially
prohibited the recruitment and use of child soldiers, research found that the
Nigerian military conducted joint patrols with the CJTF, which used children
during the reporting period. (42; 27; 28) As reported by the
Secretary-General of the United Nations, as of May 2016, Nigerian military
personnel were using four boys between ages 14 and 16 years old in support
roles. At the close of 2017, it was unknown whether these children had been
released. (43) In 2017, more than
1.7 million people were internally displaced in northeast Nigeria, of which
nearly 500,000 were children under age 18. (44). Some girls, particularly
unaccompanied minors, were subjected to commercial sexual exploitation in IDP
camps and military barracks, often by members of the Nigerian military, the
CJTF, and other camp security personnel in exchange for food. (3; 45; 46; 47;
48) Research was not able to determine the scale of this problem in 2017. "Vulnerability'
To Human Trafficking: A Study Of Viet Nam, Albania, Nigeria And The UK Patricia Hynes,
Report of Shared Learning Event held in Tirana, Albania: 24-26 October 2017 [Long URL] [accessed 13
February 2022] This report
describes the first stages of an ethically-led, two-year research study into
understanding the causes, dynamics and ‘vulnerabilities’ to and resilience
against human trafficking in three source countries– Albania, Viet Nam and
Nigeria – plus the support needs of people from these countries who have
experienced trafficking when identified as potential ‘victims’ of trafficking
in the UK. Boko Haram Claims Responsibility in Video
for Kidnapping Nigerian Girls Adam Nossiter, New York Times, Dakar Senegal, 5 MAY 2014 www.nytimes.com/2014/05/06/world/africa/nigeria-kidnapped-girls.html?smid=fb-share&smv1&_r=0 [accessed 5 May
2014] In a video message
apparently made by the leader of Nigeria’s Islamist group Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau claimed
responsibility for the kidnapping of hundreds of schoolgirls nearly three
weeks ago, called the girls slaves and threatened to “sell them in the
market, by Allah.” “Western education
should end,” Mr. Shekau said in the 57-minute
video, speaking in Hausa and Arabic. “Girls, you should go and get married.”
The Islamist leader also warned that he would “give their hands in marriage
because they are our slaves. We would marry them out at the age of nine. We
would marry them out at the age of 12,” he said. Recruitment Firms
as Agents of Forced Labour, Human Trafficking ThisDayLive, Nigeria, 01 August
2012 www.thisdaylive.com/articles/recruitment-firms-as-agents-of-forced-labour-human-trafficking/121272/ [accessed 1 August
2012] allafrica.com/stories/201208010669.html [accessed 19
February 2019] Allegations are
mounting against recruitment agencies in the country for engaging in forced labour and human trafficking. Linda Eroke
writes on the need for strict regulations and the promotion of recruitment
practices that do not threaten the right of workers. Although, Nigeria
like most African countries is bedeviled by so many problems such as poverty,
unemployment, insecurity and natural disaster, the problem of forced labour and human trafficking has continued to undermine
the essence of living. Every day,
increasing number of men, women and children are trafficked from one city to neighbouring countries and across continents with
promised of better life outside their comfort zones. In the cause of searching for greener
pasture, they are coerced into work they have not chosen and subjected to
perpetual life in bondage. They work under strenuous conditions and do not
receive the wage that was promised them.
The International Labour Organisation
(ILO) described this group of people as victims of forced labour
who have been trafficked into a situation from which they find it difficult
to escape. In Nigeria, there
is a high demand for cheap and easily disposable labour
as organisations, which are already over burden
with high cost of operations engage the services of private recruitment
agencies. This is common in industries
that are labour intensive such as agriculture,
domestic work or construction. Most of these agents, unknown to many are
traffickers who take advantage of the huge supply of cheap labour within and outside the shores of the country. Though the ILO recognises
the positive role played by Private Employment Agencies (PEAs) in national
and global labour markets, it however called for
strict regulations and the promotion of recruitment practices that do not
threaten workers’ rights. The Trafficking of
Women and Children in Nigeria An
Analysis of the New Anti-Trafficking Legislation and Its Application De Harzburgite, Jurnal Undang-Undang Dan Masyarakat,
2010 [Long URL] [accessed 13 February
2022] This article
analyses the legal framework for dealing with the trafficking of women and
children in Nigeria, It does so by exploring the various anti-trafficking
measures contained in the Nigerian Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Law
Enforcement and Administration Act 2003 as amended and recommending further
new amendments to it. Nigeria: Country
Among World's Highest in Human Trafficking Francis Onoiribholo, Daily Independent ( allafrica.com/stories/200812220165.html [accessed 13
December 2010] www.africansinamericainc.org/a/p/news/news0067.html [accessed 4 May
2020] Nigeria has been
named by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) as among the
eight countries considered the highest in human trafficking in the
world. National Project Officer of
UNODC, Ms. Amina Abdulrahman, made the comment in an address presented on
behalf of the Country Representative of the body, Mrs. Dagmar Thomas, at the
launch of the second phase of the UNODC/UNICRI-assisted project entitled:
"Preventing and Combating Trafficking of Minors and Young Women from
Nigeria to Italy," in Benin over the weekend. Abdulrahman mentioned Voodoo Aids Human
Trafficking
[PDF] Musikilu Mojeed,
The Punch, 24 Oct 2008 lastradainternational.org/lsidocs/Nigeria.pdf [accessed 24 April
2012] VOODOO AND THE
TRAFFICKING BUSINESS
- Another major factor oiling the wheel of trafficking in the country is
voodoo. Insiders in the trafficking business say once arrangements for
victims’ trips abroad are completed, traffickers seal the deal by taking the
victims to shrines of voodoo priests for oath taking. There, victims are made
to swear that they would never reveal the identities of their traffickers to
anyone if arrested whether in the course of the journey or in the destination
countries. A repented former
trafficker confirmed that voodoo, known as juju in the Nigerian parlance, is
playing a great but nauseating role in the human trafficking business. When traffickers
are arrested in Inside the Nigerian
transnational human trafficking industry Musikilu Mojeed,
The Punch, 16 Oct 2008 naijainworldview.blogspot.com/2008_10_19_archive.html [accessed 18 August
2014] The last people in
the chain are the big madams based in the destination countries. On arrival
in the destination countries, they seized the passports of the victims and
give the boys out as domestic servants to patrons who need their services
while the girls are made to work as prostitutes. The traffickers receive
payments from patrons while the girls are made to sleep with them. Our source
said the girls pay between 60 and 80,000 Euros to their madam to get their
freedom. Dr. Esohe Aghatise, who has done
extensive work on trafficking, said when Nigerian girls arrive in Also, according to Aghatise, the girls are expected to pay about 516 Euros
to their madams per month to rent the roadside spot there they wait for
clients in extreme weather conditions. They are also expected to contribute
about 36 Euros weekly each for their feeding and buying of provocative
clothing. ”When we don‘t earn the money our madam wants, she presses a hot
iron on our chests,” Aghatise quoted one Stella, a
former victim, who was rescued by an NGO, Associatione
Papa Giovanni, as having revealed. Between 1994 and 1998, about 116 Nigerian
girls are said to have died on the streets of 45-yr-old woman
arrested over alleged child trafficking Nigerian Tribune,
July 29, 2008 www.tribune.com.ng/29072008/news/news21.html [access date
unavailable] The officer of the
NSCDC in charge of Ekiti axis, Mr. Jolayemi Samuel, told newsmen that the suspect claimed
that the 26 children were pupils and students in However, he said
some of the children said they were being taken to A tortuous tale of
human trafficking Clare Short, www.thefreelibrary.com/A+tortuous+tale+of+human+trafficking+on+our+doorstep%3B+AGENDA.-a0181055911 [accessed 4 July
2013] I asked what her
problem was, and she said it was very complicated. She then started to weep
quietly, big silent tears sliding down her cheeks. More than ten years ago,
she was offered a job in When she got to Back home, the gang
that trafficked her said she must repay $45,000. She explained that she had
no money. They then burnt down her father’s house and later beat her so badly
that she spent three months in hospital. She then escaped by coming to the Poverty,
responsible for human trafficking – Imoke Leadership ( allafrica.com/stories/200805270509.html [partially accessed
9 September 2011 - access restricted] According to her,
various researches indicate that the root cause of the phenomenon of
trafficking is poverty, ignorance, civil strife, and greed. She also said
that one of the causes identified in Human trafficking
endangers Nigeria's future — Immigration John Ighodaro, Vanguard, allafrica.com/stories/200805270077.html [partially accessed
9 September 2011 - access restricted] Speaking on the
occasion of a workshop on human trafficking convened by Nigeria Immigration
Service, Cross River State Command and the Calabar
Municipal Government, Dr. Popoola said,
“Trafficking in persons, which has received global attention in recent times,
is rated the second largest illegal and organised
crime in the world after drugs in terms of revenue earnings.” He noted that in U.N. Integrated
Regional Information Networks IRIN, www.irinnews.org/report/78321/niger-nigeria-porous-border-aids-human-trafficking [accessed 9 March
2015] The girls, who are
from four southern Nigerian states Edo, Akwa Ibom,
Anambra and Delta, told the officials that Osagie
arranged with their parents to take them to Libya to work as maids for
US$1,272 fees each, which they would pay in instalments from their
wages. "The work promise is a
ruse. The truth of the matter is that they were going to pay the fees from
the money they would make from prostitution in "Our
investigation shows that 40 percent of trafficked girls repatriated to Philip Nyam, Leadership ( allafrica.com/stories/200803281320.html [partially accessed
9 September 2011 - access restricted] Despite the fact
that Ahmed Mohammed,
Daily Trust, 8 February 2008 allafrica.com/stories/200802080545.html [partially accessed
9 September 2011 - access restricted] The 'anti human
trafficking piracy special Investigation unit' of the FCT police command has
so far rescued 105 teenagers between the ages of five to thirteen years from
human traffickers, in different places in Abuja. He said the
children were trafficked from Nassarawa, Lagos,
Kano, Kwara and some villages within the FCT to be
used as sex slaves and child labourers within the
Motor Parks, Markets and restaurants in Abuja, which contravenes section 19
of the 'Trafficking Act in Persons'. Musa disclosed
further that one of the suspects, Amina Adamu
actually confessed that she kidnapped the victims to the FCT for prostitution
as well as to be used as slaves, for her to get money. Abdullahi M. Gulloma, Daily Trust, allafrica.com/stories/200711220512.html [partially accessed
9 September 2011 - access restricted] The Minister of Labour, Dr. Hassan Muhammad Lawal,
said Tuesday that Dr. Lawal also expressed concern that most anti-trafficking programmes focus on trafficking for sexual exploitation,
saying that the campaigns are "too narrow in scope." "ILO estimates
further indicate that 80 percent of forced labour in
the African region is for economic exploitation and only 8 percent for
commercial sexual exploitation," he said. Atika Balal,
Daily Trust, allafrica.com/stories/200711191161.html [partially accessed
9 September 2011 - access restricted] The phenomenon of
human trafficking in While lots of
people blame poverty or culture as a basis for human trafficking in Accused human
trafficker fights extradition Andrew Hough,
Reuters, uk.reuters.com/article/idUKL2522605520071025 [accessed 13
December 2010] It was part of an
international police operation that led to another 19 people being arrested
in 95 women arrested
for alleged human trafficking The Tide Online, Aug
4, 2007 www.thetidenews.com/article.aspx?qrDate=08/04/2007&qrTitle=95+women+arrested+for+alleged+human+trafficking&qrColumn=NEWS [accessed 9
September 2011] “These teenage
girls were brought into Lawyer jailed for
human trafficking BreakingNews.ie, 26/07/2007 www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/lawyer-jailed-for-human-trafficking-320681.html [accessed 13
December 2010] He said taking all
this into account, Ilori’s crime wasn’t at the highest
end of the scale but added that "it was undoubtedly the case" that
he brought twelve Mauritian nationals into the country knowing they were
illegal. Judge Nolan said he accepted
that there was a scheme in place and said that although there were others
involved, Ilori was an actor in it and made
financial gains through it. He said
that these Mauritian nationals suffered because they paid out quite a bit of
money and left their native country believing they had work available here. Curtailing human trafficking
in Ebonyi okoroamadi, July 20, 2007 www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-67320.0.html#msg1309114 [accessed 13
December 2010] www.nairaland.com/67321/curtailing-human-trafficking-ebonyi-state [accessed 10
February 2018] The question
bugging the minds of many remains, is human trafficking on the increase in Nigeria?
Who are the masterminds of human trafficking? Who are most at risk of being
trafficked? What are the methods employed by traffickers to lure/recruit
their victims? What inhuman and unjust conditions are victims subjected to?
What impact has the creation of National Agency for Prohibition of
Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) made in efforts to combat these ugly
development, as well as the National Assembly? It is worthy to
note that despite the effort being made by the Federal Government to stem the
rising tide of human trafficking, the menace has not abated. Voice of www.voanews.com/content/a-13-2007-07-18-voa50-66565717/555170.html [accessed 2
September 2012] www.voanews.com/archive/nigeria-intercepts-62-suspected-child-laborers [accessed 4 May
2020] The Nigerian police
intercepted a truck in the country's south carrying the potential child
laborers to Cameroon and Gabon. The children included a three-year-old girl. Oraukwe says some suspects have been arrested and would
soon be prosecuted. "We have
secured 12 convictions; we have not lost any case since this thing started,"
said Oraukwe. "We cannot let this matter go
down like that, especially when it is not just Rescued human
trafficking victims go on hunger strike Nigerian Tribune,
July 18, 2007 www.tribune.com.ng/18072007/news/news7.html [access date
unavailable] One of the victims,
Mr. Godfrey Ayima, said since they were brought in
by the police, they had not been fed or allowed to take their bath, saying
they were detained with hardened criminals and the girls made to pass the
night in the same cells with boys. Media onslaught
against child trafficking Ponte, News Agency
of www.thetidenews.com/article.aspx?qrDate=07/10/2007&qrTitle=Media+onslaught+against+child+trafficking&qrColumn=FEATURES [accessed 9
September 2011] In a remote jungle
of “Now the land is cursing
us, and we want to return home, but it is becoming increasingly difficult,”
says one of them, amidst sobs, through an interpreter. These hapless children, adored in the
African tradition and seen as a great asset to the family and the community,
have been trafficked internally, becoming labourers
in another man’s empire. Trafficking of
African women is thriving Francois Tillinac, Independent Online (IOL) News, May 10 2007 www.iol.co.za/news/africa/trafficking-of-african-women-is-thriving-1.352453 [accessed 13
December 2010] In January Italian
police smashed several human trafficking rings involving African and eastern
European females and netted some 800 suspects. She said young
girls were lured with fraudulent offers of jobs in Inside Cable News Network
CNN, September 16, 2006 transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0609/16/i_if.01.html [accessed 13
December 2010] Gooday Akhimiona is a juju or black magic priest, accused of
helping traffickers by instilling fear in human trafficking victims, mostly
girls between the ages of 12 and 25. GOODAY AKHIMIONA,
JUJU PRIEST:
Presenting my power. If I say something, (inaudible). PUREFOY: Victims say
they're forced through bloody and degrading juju rituals, and made to swear
oaths of secrecy. One victim, rescued by her cousin while on her way to Court jails father
of five for human trafficking U.N. Integrated
Regional Information Networks IRIN, www.irinnews.org/report/61221/nigeria-court-jails-father-of-five-for-human-trafficking [accessed 9 March
2015] A court in the
southern Nigerian city of Human Trafficking
on the Rise in Bala Muhammad Makosa (babanjawad), OhmyNews, 2006-09-27 english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?article_class=3&no=319325&rel_no=1 [accessed 18 August
2014] Despite the effort
being made by the Nigerian government to stem the rising tide of human
trafficking, the menace has not abated.
Police authorities disclosed on Sept. 24 that two people who offered
to buy a six-year-old girl for 600,000 Nigerian naira (U.S.$4,680) were being
questioned in This disclosure
followed the arrest of six people, including a medical doctor, for alleged
involvement in the sale of children. Nigeria/West Adeze Ojukwu,
Deputy News Editor, Daily Champion ( [accessed 24 April
2012] With increasing
incidence of trafficking in children, particularly girls for sex and domestic
work, the International Labour Organisation
(ILO) estimates that the incidence of child labour
in Nigeria for persons aged 10 to 14 years is approximately 12 million. "In the
South-West, a greater number of girls and women end up in prostitution, while
in the East, the problem affects mainly boys who find themselves trafficking
into agricultural, domestic, trading and apprenticeship jobs," the
report said. Also 60 per cent of
women trafficking victims for commercial sex in Ekemini Yemi-Ladejobi,
Daily Champion ( At one time this
article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 9
September 2011] Clara, 13, was
picked up by her aunty having agreed with her parents that she will work as a
house help somewhere in As agreed, Clara
was handed over in exchange for money, part of which was sent to her parents
as salary for two years. Soon after the deal was sealed, Clara began her
journey to Child Traffickers
Jailed Yinka Kolawole,
This Day, 20 July 2006 www.childright.nl/en/index2.php?navid=6&newsid=39 [accessed 13
December 2010] allafrica.com/stories/200607280609.html [accessed 19
February 2019] Eight child traffickers
are already serving jail terms ranging from three to seven years in different
prisons across the country for child trafficking offences. Head, Investigation and Monitoring Unit of
the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Mallam Mohammed Babandede, said
this in his paper at a one-day workshop on Public Awareness Campaigns and
Advocacy on Trafficking in Women and Children, organised
for Journalists in Osun, Kano and Cross River by WOTCLEF. Babandede said women and children
trafficking are now serious offences since 2003, when NAPTIP was
established. He said 20 people are now
behind bars, while 25 cases are still on-going in various courts. State leads in
child trafficking and prostitution Okon Bassey,
This Day, 9 August 2006 www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=9704&flag=news [accessed 13
December 2010] allafrica.com/stories/200608090147.html [accessed 4 May
2020] Akwa Ibom State is now
leading in human trafficking and child labour, beating
Edo State to the second place.
Executive Secretary, National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in
Persons and Other Related Matters (NAPTIP), Barrister Carol Ndaguba, identified the type of trafficking in 27 human
trafficking victims get vocational training [access information
unavailable] The girls, between the
ages of five and 16 years were among the 40 trafficked children intercepted
by the Nigeria Police in a containerized truck in May 2005 from Edati en-route Immigration service
to sensitise Bayelsans on
human trafficking The Tide News, July
24, 2006 nm.onlinenigeria.com/templates/?a=8154&z=17 [accessed 13
December 2010] The comptroller
expressed dismay over the rate at which parents and guardians in rural areas
gave out their children and wards to unsuspecting relations and other
individuals to serve as helpers. He
explained that the relations and others who took these children to the urban centres to help them often ended up enslaving them. “Some of the relations even sell the
children out to other countries without the consent of their parents and
guardians,” he said. Jonathan tasks govt on human trafficking Samuel Oyadongha, Vanguard, Yenagoa,
18 July 2006 allafrica.com/stories/200607180240.html [partially accessed
9 September 2011 - access restricted] Vanguard, July 12,
2006 At one time this
article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 9
September 2011] A source close to
the policeman said that the modus operandi of most of the prostitution
rings is the same. Usually they would approach natives of some
villages near Abudu in Nigerian ladies
rescued from prostitution syndicate’s den in Burkina Faso Chris Anucha and
Matthew Dike, Daily Sun, February 2, 2006 www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/main-square/32957-u-s-congress-apologises-slavery.html [accessed 2
September 2012] [scroll down] Tony was said to
have promised to take Rita and Lovina to Germany, to
meet their elder sister who resides in that country, but the journey ended up
in Burkina Faso where he told them they were brought to the country for
prostitution. Story that touches
the heart : Why prostitution rate is rising Chioma Obinna,
Vanguard, December 31, 2005 At one time this
article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 9 September
2011] She said at the age
of 16, her aunt came from Dream of freedom
turns to prostitution nightmare U.N. Integrated Regional Information Networks IRIN, www.irinnews.org/report/57008/nigeria-dream-of-freedom-turns-to-prostitution-nightmare [accessed 9 March
2015] "Two people
working in an apparently-normal travel agency arranged my journey. But once
we arrived in Trafficked Women in
Catholic News
Service CNS, www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0503678.htm [accessed 18 August
2014] archive.is/9iVii [accessed 10
February 2018] Women smuggled into
Italy and forced to work as prostitutes experience a "nightmare" of
exploitation and abuse that leave them intensely traumatized, said an Italian
nun who heads an anti-trafficking initiative.
Almost 90 percent of the African women forced into prostitution in Help Sought to
Combat Brian Murphy,
Associated Press AP Religion Writer, At one time this
article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 9
September 2011] Maria's case
illustrates one of the least understood corners of the sex slavery
underworld: gangs using the perceived potency of native West African voodoo
and hexes to hold women in their grip. Recently, however, an unusual alliance
has started fighting back. Nigerians Held For
Trafficking news24.com, [accessed 13
December 2010] Human trafficking
and the sale of human body parts are rampant in Fighting The Many
Heads Of The Child-Trafficking Beast U.N. Integrated Regional Information Networks IRIN, www.irinnews.org/Report/53501/NIGERIA-Fighting-the-many-heads-of-the-child-trafficking-beast [accessed 24 April
2012] "While the
challenge of women and children being trafficked to Europe remains in the
limelight, a big problem is the children being used as domestic help in big
cities and towns within Children's Rescue
Highlights Joe Bavier, Voice of www.voanews.com/english/news/a-13-2005-03-08-voa28-67524192.html [accessed 14
December 2010] www.voanews.com/archive/childrens-rescue-highlights-nigerias-battle-trafficking [accessed 4 May
2020] It was a
refrigerated truck, normally used for shipping frozen fish,
that a police surveillance team stopped in Lagos Sunday. When they opened the cargo compartment,
they discovered 64 children packed inside. Most were young girls, some as
young as one year old. None was older than 14. Just two days before, police on Child Trafficking:
Police Go After Victims' Parents Emma Nnadozie and Evelyn Usman, Vanguard, [accessed 18 August
2014] Police in The State Police
spokesman , Mr Ademola
Adebayo, who took journalists to the scene of the incident, vowed that the
necessary provisions of the law would be applied on the parents of the
rescued children. James Owen for
National Geographic Channel, February 10, 2005 news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/02/0210_020510_tv_witchcraft.html [accessed 14
December 2010] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_(murder_victim) [accessed 19
February 2019] In September 2001 a
gruesome discovery was made in London's River Thames. The hideously mutilated torso of a small
black boy was found floating through the city. The boy's arms, legs, and head had all been
hacked off. Forensic science
examination has led police to believe that Adam was brought to the Container kids 'to
be sold as slaves' www.thestar.com.my/Story/?file=%2F2005%2F3%2F7%2Flatest%2F21874Nigerianp [accessed 18 August
2014] [accessed 19
February 2019] Nigerian police
found more than 60 children packed into a shipping container in Lagos, and a
police said it was believed they were to be sold as slaves or servants. The children were
in a container normally used for carrying fish, said police spokesman
Emmanuel Ighodalo in Human traffickers
from Nigeria The Economist, www.economist.com/node/2618421?story_id=2618421 [accessed 14
December 2010] The market in No one knows how
many are shipped out each year, but everyone in Children in Slavery August 27, 2004 At one time this
article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 9
September 2011] [August 27, 2004] In
Nigeria 120 boys and then later another 116 all from Benin were rescued
from labour camps in the South Western states of
Oyo, Osun and Ogun. The boys some as
young as 4 years old were found working in granite quarries, sleeping out in
the open and malnourished. Young boys
from The long road to
freedom Sue MacGregor, The
Independent, April 13th, 2004 At one time this
article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 9
September 2011] [scroll down] Thousands of young
Nigerians are sold into slavery every year. Sue MacGregor made a hazardous journey
to meet the victims of this brutal trade, and the campaigners fighting
against it. Each year, more
than 200,000 Nigerian children are forcibly taken from their homes to be put
to work. Some go with the permission of their parents, and some do not. Many,
especially boys who may be as young as five or six, end up as household
slaves far from home, or as agricultural workers on smallholdings or in
quarries, where they break large lumps of granite with heavy iron hammers and
earn little more than a few cents a day. The dust they inhale will do them
lasting damage. Some, especially the younger ones, die as a result; others
end up with terrible scars, both physical and psychological. The girls who
are taken may end up in domestic service, but many become prostitutes,
perhaps in The lost children
of Jonathan Clayton in www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/article1969392.ece [accessed 18 August
2014] Voodoo is used to control
children sold into slavery by their parents. Rita’s eyes opened
wide as she described the voodoo ceremony intended to condemn her to a life
of prostitution. “The witch doctor
took some of my nails, and hair. He cut the heart of a chicken into small
pieces and mixed it all into a potion with a local gin brew. I had to drink
it,” she whispered. “I was so frightened. I knew death would come if I
betrayed the oath.” Rita, then 15, was
told that she must never run away from her “sponsors” or go to the police.
“If I did, the Gods would take advantage of me, or my parents,” she said. Her mother had
taken Rita to the ceremony. After paying for her daughter to be taken to Slavery fears for
'lost' children Matthew Chapman, BBC
Radio Five Live, 15 February 2004 news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3489935.stm [accessed 14
December 2010] There are fears
that large numbers of children may be trafficked into Campaigners fear
thousands of children are being used as domestic slaves after being brought
into 'AUNTS' AND 'UNCLES' - The vast
majority of the children were from Scale of African
slavery revealed BBC News, 23 April
2004 news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3652021.stm [accessed 14
December 2010] The report, which covers
53 African nations, says children are the biggest victims in what is a very
complex phenomenon. It describes how
they are forced into slavery, recruited as child soldiers or sold into
prostitution. And the trade is
often in both directions. COMPLICITY - Much of this
trade in children often has the tacit collaboration of the victims' own families
where it is seen not so much as criminal activity but as a way for a large
family to boost its poor income. Slavery abounds,
U.N. 'remembers' From Joseph Farah's
G2 Bulletin, WorldNetDaily, January 19, 2004 www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=36657 [accessed 14
December 2010] The book also
contains interviews with Arab slave traders, who sustain that the sharia
(Islamic law) authorizes them to enslave children and relatives of men with
whom they are at war. They state that they sell slaves to Arabs in other
countries. Despite concerted
efforts by the Women Trafficking and Child Labor Eradication Foundation to
curb the growth of traffic in persons, it continues to boom with large
numbers of victims and suspects deported to Child slaves
rescued from The Associated Press
AP, September 27, 2003 www.aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/child-slaves-rescued-nigeria [accessed 9
September 2011] aaregistry.org/story/child-slaves-rescued-from-nigeria/ [accessed 11
February 2018] On this date in
2003 116 Black African boys were rescued from a slave labor camp in Nigeria.
Police rescued the boys as young as 4 years old who had been put to work in
the granite quarries in southwest This initial
intervention stemmed from increased international attention to child labor.
The attention includes boycott threats of 120 child workers
repatriated to U.N. Integrated
Regional Information Networks IRIN, 15 Oct 2003 www.irinnews.org/report/46718/benin-nigeria-120-child-workers-repatriated-to-benin [accessed 26
February 25, 2015] This was the second
batch of child workers to be repatriated from Child labor on
cocoa farms 'tip of the iceberg' Human Rights Watch, www.hrw.org/en/news/2003/04/01/west-africa-stop-trafficking-child-labor [accessed 14
December 2010] Young Togolese boys
told Human Rights Watch they could not afford to pay school fees and so
agreed to do agricultural work in Life Sentence for
Human Traffickers Toye Olori,
Inter Press Service News Agency IPS, www.ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=19418 [accessed 14
December 2010] www.ipsnews.net/2003/07/rights-nigeria-life-sentence-for-human-traffickers/ [accessed 11
February 2018] More than 45,000
Nigerians are transported to Europe every year and forced to work in
brothels. The lucky ones, who reach their destinations safely, often do so
after encountering untold hardships on the way. Child Labour Persists Around The World: More Than 13 Percent Of
Children 10-14 Are Employed International Labour Organisation (ILO) News,
www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/press-and-media-centre/news/WCMS_008058/lang--en/index.htm [accessed 9
September 2011] www.scribd.com/document/366840945/Child-Labour-Persists-Around-the-World [accessed 11
February 2018] "Today's child
worker will be tomorrow's uneducated and untrained adult, forever trapped in
grinding poverty. No effort should be spared to break that vicious
circle", says ILO Director-General Michel Hansenne. Among the countries
with a high percentage of their children from 10-14 years in the work force
are: Mali, 54.5 percent; Burkina Faso, 51; Niger and Uganda, both 45; Kenya,
41.3; Senegal, 31.4; Bangladesh, 30.1; Nigeria,
25.8; Haiti, 25; Turkey, 24; Côte d'Ivoire, 20.5; Pakistan, 17.7; Brazil,
16.1; India, 14.4; China, 11.6; and Egypt, 11.2. Concluding Observations
of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child, 28 January 2005 www1.umn.edu/humanrts/crc/nigeria2005.html [accessed 13
December 2010] [76] The Committee
notes with appreciation the serious and exemplary efforts undertaken by the
State party to combat child trafficking, including establishment of bilateral
anti-trafficking agreements and introduction of joint border controls. The
Committee further welcomes the enactment of the law prohibiting human
trafficking in July 2003, the creation of the National Agency for Prohibition
of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), and the Presidential appointment of the
Special Assistant for Human Trafficking and Child Labor in June 2003. The
Committee also notes the signature of the Convention for the Suppression of
the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others
in 2003, and the ratification of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish
Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the
United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime in 2002, by
the State party. ***
EARLIER EDITIONS OF SOME OF THE ABOVE *** Human Rights
Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, March 8, 2006 2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61586.htm [accessed 10
February 2020] TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS
– Nigerians were trafficked to Europe, the Middle East, and other countries
in Women and children
were most at risk of being trafficked. Boys were trafficked primarily to work
as forced bondage laborers, street peddlers, and beggars, while girls were
trafficked for domestic service, street peddling, and commercial sexual
exploitation. Trafficking in children, and to a lesser extent in women,
occurred within the country's borders. Children in rural areas were
trafficked to urban centers to work as domestics, street peddlers, merchant
traders, and beggars. The United Nations
Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reported that individual criminals and
organized criminal groups conducted trafficking, often involving relatives or
other persons already known to the victims. Traffickers employed various
methods during the year. Many were organized into specialties, such as
document and passport forgery, recruitment, and transportation. To recruit
young women, traffickers often made false promises of legitimate work outside
the country. Traffickers also deceived child victims and their parents with
promises of education, training, and salary payments. Once away from their
families, children were subjected to harsh treatment and intimidation.
Traffickers subjected victims to debt bondage, particularly victims forced
into prostitution. In some cases, traffickers employed practitioners of
traditional magic, or juju, to threaten victims with curses to procure their
silence. NAPTIP estimated that 90 percent of the girls trafficked through The Department of Labor’s 2004 Findings on
the Worst Forms of Child Labor www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/tda2004/nigeria.htm [accessed 13
December 2010] Note:: Also check out this country’s report in the more recent edition DOL
Worst Forms of Child Labor INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - The country is a source, transit, and destination
country for trafficked children.
Children from All material
used herein reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107 for
noncommercial, nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT
ARTICLES. Cite this webpage as: Patt,
Prof. Martin, "Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery - |
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