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AN ANALYSIS
OF THE CONCEPT OF VICTIMS OF CRIMES IN NIGERIA
ABSTRACT
It is not
exaggeration that despite the effort of NAPTIP and other bodies like the ILO,
there are still cases and reports of women and child trafficking in Nigeria.
There are occasions where hospitals take in young pregnant girls, offer them
money for their babies ranging from N20,000-N25,000, which they in turn sell
between N150,000-N30,000 depending on the gender of the baby. Regrettably, many
Nigerian children in particular and Africa in general are prone to the whims
and caprices of human traffickers at a very astronomical rate. Some of the
problems of trafficking in persons are; the past and present military and
political leaders lack political will of the states to deal with the current
issues despite large budgetary amount that was earmarked to deal with the issue
of all sorts of criminal activities, parents and relations of trafficked
persons are never interested in helping law enforcement officials to discourage
their children or alert the officers responsible for the prohibition of
trafficking in persons, The absence of reliable records in the offices of
NAPTIP, various ministry of justice and some police departments on crimes and
victimization has hindered the understanding of crime pattern and trend of
human trafficking, the lack of enforcement mechanisms in to search arrest and
prosecutions of the suspects of trafficking and deal with them in accordance
with provisions of the law is another problem. Some of the objectives are; to
examine the laws on trafficking, to examine the application of the law on the
offence of trafficking, also to establish findings on the application of those
laws on the offence of trafficking and to provide recommendations. The findings
are; the judiciary and administrative mechanisms for the prevention of human
trafficking is ineffective, illiteracy contribute a lot to backwardness of
combating human trafficking, Nigerian anti-trafficking law in itself does not
provide a serious punishment that is commensurate with the gravity of the
offences, it has been observed that there has been a problem of lack of
coordination between international agencies and the Nigerian domestic agencies,
i.e. NAPTIP and other law enforcement agencies that are meant for protection of
trafficking. The recommendations are; Judicial and administrative mechanisms
should be strengthened where necessary to enable victims to obtain prompt and
adequate redress through formal and informal procedures that are expeditious,
fair, inexpensive and accessible, Need to educate the public about the rights
and duties of suspects, offenders, victims and the state as stakeholders in the
criminal justice system, Need to further re-examine our criminal justice
administration with a view to addressing the problems created by our
inheritance of a colonial system which extols the theory of law and state to
the point that recognizes only the state and the offender as the “parties” to
criminal proceedings, and to the attendant neglect of the rights and welfare of
the victim.
CHAPTER ONE
GENERAL
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
It is not
exaggeration that despite the effort of National Agency for the Prohibition of
Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) and other bodies like the International Labour
Organization (ILO)1, there are still cases and reports of women and child
trafficking in Nigeria. There are occasions where hospitals take in young
pregnant girls, offer them money for their babies ranging from
N20,000-N25,000,which they in turn sell between N150,000-N30,000 depending on
the gender of the baby2. Regrettably, many Nigerian children in particular and
Africa in general are prone to the whims and caprices of human traffickers at a
very astronomical rate. This however, truncates their chances of being exposed
to proper and standard education and/or training that is expected to transform
them into becoming part of the available human capital resource in Nigeria and
the entire Africa.If human capital development centres on the education and
training of human being within a society and human trafficking involves the
movement of human beings illegally from one location to another for the
purposes of exploitation and money making, then trafficking in persons should
be considered as a serious impediment to the development of human capital of
any nation. As a matter of regret, it is unfortunate to disclose that the women
and children who are trafficked from Nigeria to other nations for the
development of such destination countries would have been the same people who
ought to have been developed and used in Nigerian nation3.Train up a child well,
and he or she would become a functional future adult member of society, bound
with the responsibility of developing the nation4.
The act of
women and child trafficking in Nigeria and West Africa in general has become a
common phenomenon, which involves young boys and girls on the average age of
15years, which are mainly girls.60%- 80% of them are sent to Italy for sex
trade and the common routes are west coast of Nigeria to Mali, morocco, boat to
Spain or west coast of Nigeria to Libya and Saudi Arabia. It has been estimated
that about 15 million children are engaged in child labour in Nigeria and 40%
of them are of the risk of being used for entertainment, pornography, armed
conflict, rituals and forced labour5. Adenekan further revealed that traffickers
lure children to leave their homes promising them education and training
abroad, though due to poverty some go willingly. Sometimes officials at borders
and traffickers conspire to smuggle women and children out for selfish
interest6.
Ignorance
and poverty are central reason why some parents allow their children to be
taken away from them for menial works. Parents with large families too
willingly give out their wards to strangers for money to enable them cater for
the rest of the family.7 Traffickers prey on the vulnerability of such poor
parents who are mostly illiterates to exploit them, since they are desperate
for financial succor and therefore give out their children to strangers who
give them money with promise to give the children quality education. Ironically
the children are maltreated, physically and psychologically abused. Those that
are taken as domestic servants stand the risks of being sexually exploited
which invariably, exposed them to deadly diseases like HIV/AIDS8. Unfortunately,
some of them are used for ritual. Majority of the people trafficked, ranging
from children to girls, young women and men are usually engaged in forced
labour9. Such assignments include: domestic services, agricultural activities,
prostitution and extraction of some parts of their body such as kidney and at
the extreme, using them for rituals. The implication of this is that the human
capital strength of the country is jeopardized as the resources in human
persons are being wasted sometimes very prematurely. It is germane to note that
even at the local and international fronts; victims of human trafficking are
mostly subjected to carrying out odd job10. These include assignments like;
nannies, house helps and some other domestic works as well as street trade
(hawking) which would never allow them to develop any reasonable low manpower
skills, let alone middle or high level manpower skills and knowledge. Even when
such victims are exposed to good education and other forms of training, they
would only be withheld to make them use their skills and knowledge within their
countries of destination. Furthermore, the monies made by the traffickers are
sometimes used to import illegal arms and ammunitions which are used by
politicians and criminals to eliminate people within the country. Consequently,
this gesture reduces the number of existing human capital in Nigeria11.
Apart from
the inconsiderate treatment meted out on these women and children they neither
feel at home in the hands of their captives, nor could they escape as the route
are extremely risky. Stories abound on how women and children who are victims
of traffickers have been rescued at border posts. Some rescued from
refrigerated trucks severely dehydrated. Regardless of their age or sex; the women
and children try to survive in a cruel environment. If we believe that children
are the leaders of tomorrow, what type of future do we anticipate for a nation
where child trafficking remains a lucrative business in our country12.
The effects
of trafficking are devastating therefore having negative consequences on our
children. Isolated from their families, as well as communities and culture,
most of these children find it difficult to trace their roots as a result of
long wasted years or the influence exerted by their masters. Those women and
children are denied their rights to in rare cases, some that managed to return
to their villages finds it thorny to adjust to the new environment. The act of
child trafficking is inhuman using our children as objects of transaction and
its effects on the Nigeria include loss of lives, violence and crime, school
drop outs, impaired children, poor national image, massive deportation of
Nigerian girls. This, in addition, has worsened the regions growing AIDS crises
because of the sexual exploitation of the victims13. It seems some parents do
not help the matter as they occasionally
defended traffickers after
the arrest claiming
they have their
consents.
Nigeria is a
source, transit, and destination country for women and children subjected to
trafficking in persons, specifically conditions of forced labor and forced
prostitution. Trafficked Nigerian women and children are recruited from rural
areas within the country‟s borders − women and girls for involuntary domestic
servitude and forced commercial sexual exploitation, and boys for forced labour
in street vending, domestic servitude, mining, and begging. Nigerian women and
children are taken from Nigeria to other West and Central African countries,
primarily Gabon, Cameroon, Ghana, Chad, Benin, Togo, Niger, Burkina Faso, and
the Gambia, for the same purposes15. Children from West African states like
Benin, Togo, and Ghana – where Economic Community of West African States
(ECOWAS) rules allow for easy entry – are also forced to work in Nigeria, and
some are subjected to hazardous jobs in Nigeria‟s granite mines. Nigerian women
and girls are taken to Europe16, especially to Italy and Russia, and to the
Middle East and North Africa, for forced prostitution17. Traffickers sometimes
move their victims to Europe by caravan, forcing them to cross the desert on
foot, and subjecting them to forced prostitution to repay heavy debts for
travel expenses. During the reporting period, Nigerian girls were repatriated
from Libya and Morocco, where they were reportedly held captive in the
commercial sex trade18.
The
Government of Nigeria fully complies with the minimum standards for the
elimination of trafficking. It demonstrated sustained progress to combat human
trafficking during the reporting period. In 2009, the government convicted 25
trafficking offenders and provided care for 1,109 victims, increases over the
previous reporting period19. It also continued to undertake strong efforts to
raise awareness of human trafficking. In addition, its National Agency for the
Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) ensured the practice of
interrogating trafficking suspects at the same Lagos facility housing its
shelter for trafficking victims. To better ensure victims‟ rights are respected,
NAPTIP formed a committee in mid-2009 to review victim care policies, aiming to
strike a balance between ensuring victims‟ safety in shelters and promoting
their freedom of movement. The Nigerian government in 2009 pledged over $7
million in annual funds for NAPTIP‟s operation and activities; all government
programs received partial payment pending budget approval by legislative and
executive branches. Due to a four-month delay in approval of the 2010 national
budget, funds were distributed to all federal agencies in April 201020.
The
Government of Nigeria sustained law enforcement efforts to combat trafficking
in 2003. The 2003 Trafficking in Persons Law Enforcement and Administration
Act, amended to increase penalties for trafficking offenders, prohibits all
forms of human trafficking. The law‟s prescribed penalties of five years‟
imprisonment and/or a $670 fine for labor trafficking, 10 years‟ imprisonment
for trafficking of children for forced begging or hawking, and 10 years to life
imprisonment for sex trafficking are sufficiently stringent and commensurate
with penalties prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. Nigeria‟s
2003 Child Rights Act also criminalizes child trafficking, though only 23 of
the country‟s 36 states, including the Federal Capital Territory, have enacted
it. According to the Nigerian constitution, laws pertaining to children‟s
rights fall under state purview; therefore, the Child Rights Act must be
adopted by individual state legislatures to be fully implemented. NAPTIP
reported 149 investigations, 26 prosecutions, and 25 convictions of trafficking
offenses during the reporting period under the 2003 trafficking in Persons
Act.21 Sentences ranged from two months to 10 years, with an average sentence
of 2.66 years‟ imprisonment; only two convicted offenders were offered the
option of paying a fine instead of serving prison time. Together with
international partners, the government provided specialized training to
officials on how to recognize, investigate, and prosecute instances of
trafficking. Police and immigration officials, including those who work at
border posts and airports, at times allegedly accepted bribes to overlook
trafficking crimes. NAPTIP dismissed two staff members from public service who
were found to have diverted victims‟ funds; they were made to refund the money
back. Nigeria continued its efforts to protect trafficking victims in 2009.
Police, customs, immigration, and NAPTIP officials systematically employed
procedures to identify victims among high-risk persons, such as young women or
girls traveling with non-family members. Data provided by NAPTIP reflected a
total of 1,109 victims identified and provided assistance at one of NAPTIP‟s
eight shelters throughout the country during the reporting period; 624 were
cases of trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation and 328 for labor
exploitation. Various government agencies referred trafficking victims to
NAPTIP for sheltering and other protective services: immigration referred 465;
police referred 277; Social Services referred 192; and the State Security
Service referred nine. Shelter staff assessed the needs of victims upon arrival
and provided food, clothing, shelter, recreational activities, and instruction
on various skills, including vocational training; psychological counseling was
provided to only the most severe cases. While at NAPTIP‟s shelters, 70 victims
received vocational training assistance provided by government funding. NAPTIP
estimated the government‟s 2009 spending on its shelter facilities to be
$666,000. The 2003 trafficking in Persons Law Enforcement and Administration
Act provides for treatment, protection, and non-discriminatory practices for
victims22. The law specified no trafficking victim could be detained for any
offense committed as a result of being trafficked. During the reporting period,
the government took steps to relocate victims‟ quarters a considerable distance
from detention areas for trafficking offenders, greatly reducing the
possibility traffickers could exert undue influence over their victims. Victims
were allowed to stay in government shelters for six weeks. If a longer time
period was needed, civil society partner agencies were contacted to take in the
victim. Officials encouraged victims to assist with the investigation and
prosecution of traffickers, and victims served as witnesses in all of NAPTIP‟s
successful cases. Victims could theoretically seek redress through civil suits
against traffickers, or claim funds from a Victims‟ Trust Fund set up in 2009 through
which assets confiscated from traffickers are transferred to victims. The Trust
Fund committee is chaired by the Minister of Justice and meets four times per
year. The government provided a limited legal alternative to the removal of
foreign victims to countries where they face hardship or retribution –
short-term residency that cannot be extended.
The
Government of Nigeria sustained strong efforts to raise awareness of human
trafficking over the last year. NAPTIP‟s Public Enlightenment Unit worked throughout
the reporting period on national and local programming to raise awareness. For
example, in rural Benue, Kogi, and Edo States, NAPTIP introduced grassroots
programs and held its first annual race against human trafficking in Edo State
with 5,000 runners23. On the national level, it convened the 2009 Model UN
Conference for secondary students with a theme of combating human trafficking.
Furthermore, a nine-state tour was launched to establish state working groups
against human trafficking. The objective of these and several related programs
was to sensitize vulnerable people, sharpen public awareness of trends and
tricks traffickers used to lure victims, warn parents, and share ideas among
stakeholders. Audiences ranged from 50 to 5,000 persons. NAPTIP worked with
Immigration Services to monitor emigration and immigration patterns for
evidence of trafficking. The long-established Stakeholder Forum continued
quarterly meetings in Abuja to foster collaboration among agencies. In August
2009, NAPTIP held a stakeholders‟ workshop in Kaduna to set program priorities
and cost estimates for implementing the National Plan of Action, which was
established in 200824. Nigerian troops undergo mandatory human rights and human
trafficking training in preparation for peacekeeping duties abroad. The
government did not take major action to reduce the demand for commercial sex
acts, though officials moved to shut down two brothels in Lagos during the
first quarter of 2010. At these brothels, authorities rescued 12 females,
including six underage victims of trafficking. One property owner was
convicted, sentenced to two years in prison, and required to forfeit his hotel;
his case remained under appeal at the end of the reporting period. The second
brothel owner‟s trial was ongoing and he remained totally free on bail25.
Women and
children have become the victims of crimes in many part of the country26.
Serious crimes like sexual violence27, domestic violence against women28,
human-trafficking29, cultural and religious crimes against women30, child
labour, unnecessary killings by different groups31, kidnapping32, etc. Children
become vulnerable to being trafficked for a number of reasons, with the root
causes being poverty and lack of opportunities, corruption and instability and/or
armed conflict. Their parents may pay for them to be taken to another country,
in the hope that they will gain employment and a better life abroad.
Alternatively, children may be sold to traffickers by their parents, or
kidnapped by such groups. Street children are particularly susceptible to
becoming trafficking victims, as are children who suffer from other forms of
discrimination. In the Niger Delta, children who have been stigmatized as
„witches‟ are extremely at risk as they are usually rejected by their families
and communities, and often live on the streets with no-one to care for them33.
However, the
unending issue of human trafficking still exists in the 21st century.
Governments, international organizations and civil society are devoting considerable
efforts to counter it, but there is still an information deficit about the
extent of this tragedy. Only by understanding its depth, breadth and scope can
we design policies to fight it. This understanding still eludes us; efforts to
counter trafficking have so far been uncoordinated and inefficient. The above
problems compelled the current research work to make an analysis of the concept
of trafficking on women and children generally, with a view of providing
workable recommendations to the identified problems.
1.2 The Statement of Research Problem
The problems
for study are as follows:
1. In the
last few decades, humanity has witnessed the emergence of several patterns of
crimes of human trafficking. Nigeria has not been exclusive as it is confronted
with pervasive crime waves, issues of “Boko Haram” officially called “Western
Education is sacrilege or a sin”33, in the North-East and some North-Western
states, for example, attacks by “Boko-Haram” in Baga, Gwoza and other parts of
Borno State that caused massive displacement34, for example, the Book Haram
group has abducted school girls at Chibok. Some of the girls were raped, some
were allegedly sold to unknown persons, while some were forced into compulsory
marriage at N10, 000: 00 dowry. even if the taking away of Chibok girls does
not amount to human trafficking, their constitutional right to education,
personal liberty, right to associate with their family members, development and
right not to be subjected to force labour and or any degrading or inhuman
treatment as enshrined in the Constitution35 has been violated. Loss of
thousand of lives, destruction of houses and taking hostage of student girls,
small children and their mothers, kidnapping in the Southern part of the
country, which has compounded the problem of insecurity in the country. In the
cities, hoodlums unleash terror on unsuspecting citizens, and bandits are
reported to man many Nigeria link roads. There is also the problem of
identification of criminals and those who train, fund, and harbor them. Upon
all these criminal activities there has rarely been an instance where the
criminals are prosecuted by the relevant authorities and the victims of such
crimes are left unprotected. Another problem is also that in many occasions, women
and children who are among the most vulnerable group of the society are mostly
affected as victims of such crimes, whether of a primary or secondary degree,
and whether in time of war or not. Women and children are always victims of
sexual harassments like gang-rape, rape, defilement, all in the course of
trafficking. Women and children are left handicap by the government, by not
paying much attention to their predicaments. Women and children only end up
getting meager donation from both the Federal and States governments, as if
there are no laws or judicial arm to deal with the perpetrators of such crimes.
1. The past
and present military and political leaders lack political will of the states to
deal with the current issues despite large budgetary amount that was earmarked
to deal with the issue of all sorts of criminal activities like human
trafficking in the country36, they are not willing to put an end to the
commission of such crimes and insecurity issues in the country neither are they
showing any deep concern about the current position of the victims of those
crimes, despite the country‟s police, civil defence and military personnel that
are stationed in all angles of the country.
1. The
absence of reliable records in the offices of NAPTIP, various ministry of
justice and some police departments on crimes and victimization has hindered
the understanding of crime pattern and trend of human trafficking in the
country. Apart from identifying human trafficking trends, victim surveys help
to elicit a clearer picture of levels of human trafficking victimization as
well as the opinion of a cross-section of society on matters relating to human
trafficking and punishment, their perception of the criminal justice agencies
and the methods of handling offenders and victims of human trafficking. Such
information collected from victims also covers their experience before, during
and after the offence has occurred. It constitutes a better indicator of the
level of crime than the number of crimes reported to and recorded by the
police. As Mueller37argues, gathering information about crime victims would not
only help analyzing victim-offender relationships, but also in planning crime
prevention and control38.
1. Another
problem lays in the lack of enforcement mechanisms in to search arrest and
prosecution of the suspects of trafficking on women and children and deal with
them in accordance with the provisions of the law. For example, Boko Haram
abducted more than 200 Chibok girls in Borno State. But since then, nothing has
been done to deal with the issue apart from propaganda by the authorities
concerned in the Medias.
1. Lastly,
parents and relations of trafficked persons are never interested in helping law
enforcement officials to discourage their children or alert the officers
responsible for the prohibition of trafficking in persons.
The above
problems of study are still in the increase in Nigeria, which needs urgent
intervention and control.
1.3 Objectives of the Research
The
objectives of this research are:
1. To
examine the laws on trafficking on women and children in Nigeria.
1. To
examine the application of the law on the offence of trafficking on women and
children.
1. To
establish findings on the application of those laws on the offence of
trafficking.
1. to
provide recommendations.
1.4 Scope of the Research
The research
examined international and municipal literatures that are relevant to the
offence of trafficking in Nigeria, with particular emphasis on women and
children as victims, being the most vulnerable groups in the society.
1.5 Justification of the Study
It is
justifiable to conduct research on the topic from time to time in order to
provide a current finding on the above problems. It also improved the existing
literatures on the knowledge of the concept of trafficking on women and
children in Nigeria, both at national and international levels. It further
contributed positively to the legal knowledge of regulations and procedures for
the protection of human trafficking and victims of such crime in Nigeria and at
international parlance, particularly to lecturers and students as well as
provided materials for future research on the topic.
1.6 Literature Review
In order to
explain the meaning, nature and the concept of trafficking on women and
children as it affects the Nigerian populace, study has been made of literary
from the municipal and foreign sources. For example, statutes, case laws,
textbooks, articles, journals, seminar papers, internet sources, etc. were used
and acknowledged. The foundation for the research is based on contributions of
writers on the field of criminology and criminal victimization as well as
victims of crimes in Nigeria. The following existing literatures were used in
the course of this research.
According to
Adenekan, A.39 The phenomenon of slavery, no doubt, dates back to the ancient
times when victorious armies and tribes in Europe and Asia found it more
profitable to use as slave, people they caught in wars than to murder them just
like that. In many Asian countries, likewise in Israel, slaves were bought and
used for various domestic and farm labour. In the 14th century Europe, these
unfortunate men and women caught at wars were known as serfs, a title that
classified them as members of the lowest order and are “owned”, in most cases,
by the lords of the manor. They attended to his mundane wishes, work in farms
and depended solely on him for their livelihood40.
The above
author maintains that going by the history, the Portuguese started kidnapping
and poaching human beings as far back as 1442 in the west coast of Africa
particularly in countries like the Gold Coast (the present Ghana), Togo, Benin,
and Nigeria while in 1517, they encouraged Spain to embrace the “lucrative”
inhuman market. The English
followed in
1553, France in 1624 and soon after the Dutch, the Danes, and America. Africa,
in 1650, had a population of about 100 million (20 per cent of the then existing
world), 90m million in 1800, 95 million in 1850 and 120 million in 190041.
The author
further views that taking into account the high profitability of the illicit
trade in which human beings were the fiscal wares, many crude methods were
employed for the security of the diabolical ventures. Cases were reported
whereby houses in villages and hamlets were irrationally set ablaze in the
middle of the nights just in order to catch hapless individuals including women
and children for sale in open market like common household commodities42.
According to the above author, the illicit trade was always a subject of many
crude channels. European ships were chartered by the merchants to take
manufactured goods to the coast of Africa and on reaching the destination, the
commodities were exchanged for slaves who would be later taken to the West
Indies and sold for huge profits. In this place, their merchants used their
money to buy commodities like sugar, coffee and tobacco which would be later
taken back to Europe. Since the ultimate intention of the trade is to make huge
profit, the ship captains loaded as much as healthy slaves for the lowest
possible price. They normally had a system whereby the captains would bring a
fewer number of slaves in their ships so that the chance of disease and death
would be reduced to the barest minimum. It is quite apparent that hundreds of
thousands of African men, women and children are forced by ever worsening
environmental, economic and social circumstances into situations of labor and
sexual
exploitation
both within and outside the continent every year. Trafficking in persons – the
modern day slavery is evidently a serious threat to human security and
development. Right now, awareness of trafficking increases gradually because of
the vigilance on vehicles conveying child laborers to markets and plantations
in different places. In Nigeria for example, an International Labour
Organization (ILO) report found that 40% of the street children and street
hawkers were victims of trafficking. In March 2002 for example, it was said
that eight million Nigerian children undergo the worst forms of child labour
serving as domestic servants, street beggars, hawkers, agricultural laborers
and prostitutes.43He maintains that at least 60% of foreign prostitutes in
Italy are from African countries with the most of them from Nigeria. Nigerian
and Italian authorities estimate that there are from 10,000 to 15,000 Nigerian
prostitutes in Italy alone. Trafficking of foreign women into South Africa for
commercial sexual exploitation from other areas of Africa, Europe and South
East Asia is not only growing but appears to be controlled by organized
criminal gangs from Bulgaria, Russia, Thailand, China, and Nigeria44.
It is very
clear that without serious and sustained political will at the top levels of
governments and throughout societies; intervention will remain limited compared
to the scope and magnitude of the problem. Traffickers will continue to
victimize African men, women and children, depriving them of their basic human
rights, depriving countries of critical human capital to compete in the global
economy and also governments of the ability to establish law and order within
their own borders.
According to
Ricco, V.45 and Attoh, F.46 majority of the people trafficked, ranging from
children to girls, young women and men are usually engaged in forced labour.
Such assignments include: domestic services, agricultural activities,
prostitution and extraction of some parts of their body such as kidney and at the
extreme, using them for rituals. The implication of this is that the human
capital strength of the country is jeopardized as the resources in human
persons are being wasted sometimes very prematurely47. It is germane to note
that even at the local and international fronts; victims of human trafficking
are mostly subjected to carrying out odds jobs. These include assignments like;
nannies, house helps and some other domestic works as well as street trade
(hawking) which would never allow them to develop any reasonable low manpower
skills, let alone middle or high level manpower skills and knowledge. Thus the
people trafficked are usually under-developed while, it would also amount to
Nigerian nation remaining at the developing stage. Ricco48 simply sees human
trafficking as a modern or contemporary slavery. Such victims are forcefully or
deceptively, collected and sold to others whom in most cases; mutilate their
bodies in the name of branding or guarding against possible escape of such
persons, and engaging them in all sorts of inhuman jobs including prostitution.
Perhaps the basic distinction between the traditional slavery and the
contemporary “human trafficking”, could be the sophisticated means of
transportation and communication systems which the latter utilizes in the
delivery of trafficked human beings to various destination ports49.
Attoh50
defines human trafficking though, with emphasis on the female sex as “the
illicit movement of young women across international borders for certain
exploitative purposes.” She affirms that such unlawful movements usually take a
bottom-top dimension. That is, it involves the exploitation of victims from the
developing and underdeveloped countries to the developed nations. Which ever
angle one looks at trafficking in persons, it is quite glaring that it has to
do with taking people or someone away from his or her environment to a
different location to do some work and other very odd things which ordinarily
he or she would not accept doing. Whether the consent of such a person was
sought and approval given before the said movement is immaterial. What most
likely qualifies a victim as a trafficked person is that the fellow would be in
another environment where he or she would be subjected to doing things against
his or her volition. In other words, the fundamental rights of freedom of
movement, association and even expression may have been denied such victims in
question.
Awopegba,
P.51 opines that Nigeria remains under-developed partly because of unplanned
efforts towards the development of human capital; it could be argued further
that, the state of under-development in the country may be attributed to the
reduction of the human beings who ought to have been developed as human capital
through
trafficking
in persons. According to the author trafficking in persons mostly, takes place
from the South (developing countries) to the North (developed countries) and
makes way for the transfer of human resource elements from the under-developed
and developing countries to the developed countries of the world. This could be
further explained as a conscious attempt by the North to further under-develop
Africa and some other nations in Asia and other continents of the world. Some
people may also contend that trafficking in persons satisfies their utilitarian
needs since, they can afford to make immediate financial gains but the long
term effect would always be felt by the dearth of human capital in Nigeria. The
number of Nigerians trafficked to Europe since the late 1990s were only able to
generate fund for the traffickers to invest in other illicit trades and
activities like drug trafficking and other mafia related businesses such as oil
bunkering and exportation as well as importation and proliferation of arms and
ammunitions. One may describe human trafficking as a cyclic process of evil
against the development of human capital of Nigeria and many other nations
where it thrives. Even when such victims are exposed to good education and
other forms of training, they would only be withheld to make them use their
skills and knowledge within their countries of destination. Furthermore, the
monies made by the traffickers are sometimes used to import illegal arms and
ammunitions which are used by politicians and criminals to eliminate some group
of people within the country. Consequently, this gesture reduces the number of
existing human capital in Nigeria and creates tension by eliminating people or
group of people.
As pointed
out by Dave-Odigie, C.52 “human trafficking deprives Nigeria of her human
resources.” Although, she observes that majority of those trafficked are
semi-literate and non-literates, the point remains that such people would have
become part of human capital base of the country, were they conserved, educated
and trained. The author further explains that human trafficking also reduces
the population of human resource to death. For example, a good number of the
trafficked persons especially, those who are used for prostitution, are more
often vulnerable to the contraction of HIV/AIDS and other Sexually Transmitted
Diseases (STDs) because they are compelled to engage in unprotected sex. This
in most cases results in premature death of such victims. Ironically, those who
patronize the prostitutes too, become prone to the contraction of HIV/AIDS and
subsequently face sudden deaths, even though they were not direct victims of
human trafficking. Regrettably, trafficking in human beings certainly reduces
the life expectancy of both the victims of the illicit business and that of
normal persons in Nigerian society. This affects the country‟s human capital
base adversely. However, apart from pushing talents and human resources out of
Africa through human trafficking as he submits, the locally consumed trafficked
victims are subjected to personal under-development and further reduction in
human capital development of Nigeria and other affected nations of Africa and
the World in general.
Jegede, S.53
suggested that a nation should have at least 65 per cent literacy level in
development. Thus, there is need to shift a pragmatic attention to the
promotion of literacy programme or even design further programmes in that
direction so as to reduce the high percentage of illiteracy in Nigeria and that
of other developing African countries. Since illiteracy leads to poverty and
poverty escalates human trafficking, which ostensibly jeopardizes the
development of human capital in Nigeria, there is an urgent need to
objectively, implement all the policies that relate to the advancement of Adult
literacy and Non-formal education programmes and improve the general standard
of education in the country.
According to
Dalaker, J. and Proctor, B.54 farmers are more likely to be victims of poverty
than people who live and work in cities. As a result, since the greater percent
of Nigerians reside in the rural areas and engage in farm works, poverty is
more pronounced there. This makes the poor people in the rural areas more prone
to trafficking. Even in cities, there is the “underclass,” that is, the
persistently poor, unemployed and dependent people who dominate the inner city.
This class of individuals can voluntarily surrender themselves to be
trafficked. Young girls are compelled to joining trafficking due to the
inability of families to meet their primary responsibilities.
Butegwa,
F.55 capture unemployment and poverty, as the major push for women
participation in trafficking in persons. The authors maintain that trafficking
in women in Nigeria is necessitated by unemployment, low socio-economic status
and perhaps ignorance of the long term effect of the act on victims and
society.
According to
Aghatise, E.56 Poor implementation of laws that apply to the issue of human
trafficking appears to be a contributing factor to the rapid growth and
development of the illicit trade. For example, how many of the traffickers and
their agents caught are prosecuted, let alone giving appropriate punishment?
Thus, human traffickers tend to take undue advantage of the gap in the judicial
system to perpetrate such heinous crimes against humanity and society. The
author states that the law enforcement agents in Nigeria investigated 209
trafficking cases and convicted 23, the figure remains very infinitesimal when
compared with the rate at which people are trafficked as reported in the media.
High rate of illiteracy in developing countries is also responsible for people
becoming vulnerable to human trafficking. It is quite easy to deceive
illiterates into being trafficked than the educated persons. At least, an
educated person would be conscious of getting involved in the crime unlike the
illiterate who is more likely to believe false stories without asking logical
questions.
Joseph, U.57
maintains that Juju is another major factor that “lubricates the wheel of human
trafficking” in Nigeria. From the accounts of repentant traffickers, it was
revealed that victims are usually mandated to seal their agreement with oath in
shrines of voodoo or juju priests. The fear of loosing their lives to oaths
compels them to conceal the identities of traffickers from authorities. This
claim is evident in the assertion of Abdulrahim Shaibu58, The Deputy Director
of NAPTIP‟s Prosecution and Legal Services, who maintains that the agency had
problems prosecuting traffickers because victims are afraid of coming out in
court to expose the supposed culprits due to the juju oaths they were forced to
take.
John Egwu a
retired Assistant Comptroller General of Immigration Service, as quoted by
Nwagbo, N.59 states that, “victims of human trafficking are the main reason why
the business thrives”. In his words, “the people who are being trafficked are
willing tools and they are never willing to cooperate with the officials”.
According to him, parents and relations of trafficked persons are never
interested in helping law enforcement officials to discourage their children or
alert the officers responsible for the prohibition of trafficking in persons.
In the case of people trafficked into Nigeria from other countries, the retired
Assistant Comptroller General of Immigration maintains that officials of those
countries do not cooperate with Nigerian Immigration officials in most cases.
Kidnapping
is another form of trafficking that affects the development and well being of
women and children in Nigeria. According to Hiscox Insurance Group, as quoted
by Pharoah, R.60, in Nigeria, kidnapping for ransom started in 1992 with a
single incident. By the end of 1999, the figure had grown to 34, but government
did not raise alarm until 26 February 2006 when the Niger Delta militants
kidnapped foreign oil workers to press home their demand. Since then kidnapping
has become ubiquitous and a commercialized venture. It has spread from the
Niger Delta to virtually all nooks and crannies of the country, with some
states of course being hotspots. Kidnappers now make victims not only of
foreign oil workers but also of Nigerians suspected to be closely related to
the wealthy including parents, grandparents, and toddlers from whom they hope
to get some ransom. Those behind the recent wave of the despicable act have
also changed from being exclusively Niger Delta militants to dodgy elements
from different walks of life - armed robbers, unemployed, fraudsters and
gangsters. In a survey report rendered by Eboh, C.61, more than 1,500 persons
were said to have been kidnapped in Nigeria in 2009. This was against 512
persons in 2008 and 353 in 2007. The growing incidence of kidnapping in the
country suggests its profitability. Kidnapping can be classified into two:
criminal and political. While criminal kidnapping has the motive of obtaining
ransom from the family or business of the victims, political kidnapping has the
objective of furthering the political aim of the group or movement. In this
case, a monetary ransom is demanded for the group to fund their activities.
This type of kidnapping differs from holding individuals against political
ends, such as the release of comrades from prison. Judging by this
differentiation, one can conclude that most of the kidnapping in Nigeria are
criminally motivated. When the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta
(MEND), started kidnapping foreign oil workers in 2006, the emphasis was
largely political: to gain a share of the region's wealth. Presently, many
criminal gangs have taken to kidnapping and have made ransom payment their main
source of income.
The above
literatures used in the course of this research are found resourceful to this
study. The literatures reviewed above have addressed topical issues of concern
on trafficking on women and children. However, this research aims at
contributing current findings and recommendations.
1.7 Research Methodology
One principal
method was the use of data and information. The doctrinal method of research
was used, using library materials such as books, articles, journals,
periodicals, seminar papers, as well as internet/websites, etc.
1.8 Organizational Layout of the Study
This
research has five chapter basis.
Chapter one
deals with the general background of the research work, statement of problem,
objective of the research, scope of the research, and the Justification of the
research. It also consists of the literature review of the existing
literatures, research methods adopted and the organizational plan of the
project.
Chapter two
contains the clarification of words and definitions of relevant concepts, such
as, “trafficking”, “human rights violation”, and “victims of crime”.
Chapter
three provides an overview of the concept of the offence of human trafficking,
its history and effects.
Chapter four
highlighted the concept of victims of the offence of human trafficking and
abduction in Nigeria. Women and children are perceived as the most vulnerable
group in the society, by virtue of which they are exposed to becoming victims
of trafficking.
Chapter five
of the study provided the conclusion which contains the summary, findings and
recommendations.
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