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Trafficking
Global trafficking in
persons has become one of the most lucrative illicit
businesses in the world today which according to the
International Labor Organization (ILO) ‘the
illicit profits produced by trafficked forced laborers
annually is estimated at US$32 billion’ (ILO Global
Report for 2005). The major beneficiary of these
illicit profits are the traffickers while the
trafficked persons are subjected to horrific
exploitative labors resulting in health related,
economic and other social hazards.
There is a growing
concern about the escalation of human trafficking in
Nigeria and the attendant multifaceted problems. The
enormity of the problems of human trafficking was
discussed in the United States Trafficking in Persons
Report 2007 as:
“a source, transit
and destination country for women and children
trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and
commercial sexual exploitation”
(G/TIP Trafficking in Persons Report 2007 p.161)".
There is
evidence of both internal and cross border trafficking
in the country. Since several years ago there had been
incidences of trafficking of humans especially women
and children from the rural areas to the urban or city
centers for exploitative labour such as domestic work,
prostitution, bus conducting, street trading and
begging to mention some. External trafficking of
Nigerians became more manifest in the 70s when women
and children were trafficked to neighboring countries
and later to Europe and Middle East for various forms
of exploitative labour.
While definitive and accurate data on
the number of women trafficked within Nigeria and
abroad is currently unavailable, it is estimated that
from 1999 to 2006 over 10,000 Nigerian
women and girls had been trafficked to Italy alone for
prostitution. (See the UNESCO publication on Nigeria
“Policy Paper No 14.2 (E) “Human Trafficking in
Nigeria: Root Causes and Recommendations” available at
www.unesco.org/shs/humantrafficking)
This data was
corroborated by the Lagos Zonal head of NAPTIP Mr.
Morka, who in a presentation at a workshop in Lagos
organized by WOCON in September 2007 estimated that
presently over 50,000 Nigerian women and girls, have
been trafficked to Europe and into the sex industry.
The magnitude of internal trafficking is also
evidenced by the estimated (ILO) 8 million children in
forced labor in various parts of the country who are
mostly trafficked children. UNICEF made estimates
saying about 10 children are trafficked across
Nigerian borders every day (Dott. P.O.Ebigbo, UNICEF).
Contrary to public
understanding of human trafficking, the incidents of
internal trafficking are quite enormous with millions
of women and children trafficked from the rural areas
to cities for domestic labour bus conducting and
begging. There is hardly any middle class home that do
not have young women and children as domestic servants
most of whom are trafficked persons. Of course the
number of young boys found in our motor parks is a
testimony of the increase in the trafficking of young
children from rural areas to the cities.
The growing trend of
trafficking in Nigeria could be largely attributed to
two factors: namely the limited level of awareness
among the populace especially the rural communities
and the inability to arrest, prosecute and convict the
traffickers to serve as deterrent to others.
While trafficking for
different forms of exploitative labour occurs in
various forms in the different states, some states are
particularly notorious as sources for trafficking for
domestic labour and prostitution across borders and
internally. It appears that these states include Ogun,
Akwa Ibom, Edo, Ebonyi and Lagos. Urban Lagos is
strategic as place of origin, transit and destination
for internally and cross-border trafficked persons.
The victims of human
trafficking suffer serious mental, physical and sexual
abuses resulting in adverse effects of human
trafficking on the populace. These effects include
loss of life, truncated education for children, ill
health including the spread of HIV/AIDS and stunted
growth and development.
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