Human Trafficking in [Nigeria Street Children in [Nigeria] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Nigeria] [other countries] |
Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery In the first
ten years of the 21st Century
- 2000 to 2009
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. - |
|
||
|
CAUTION: The following
links have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in ***
FEATURED ARTICLES *** Babies
bred for sale in Nigeria www.mg.co.za/article/2008-11-09-babies-bred-for-sale-in-nigeria
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 Nigeria. At the
hospital in Enugu, a large city in Nigeria's
south-east, 20 teenage girls were rescued in May in a police swoop on what
was believed to be one of the largest infant trafficking rings in the West
African country. 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). Nigeria's
'respectable' slave trade 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. Nigeria: Victims of Human Trafficking Contract Aids allafrica.com/stories/200708160019.html 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. 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 *** U.S.
Dept of Labor Bureau of International Labor Affairs INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - The country is a source, transit, and destination country for
trafficked children. Children from Bur of Democracy,
Human Rights & Labor - Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005 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 Concluding
Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) - 2005 [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. Nigeria:
Country Among World's Highest in Human Trafficking allafrica.com/stories/200812220165.html
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 Thailand, China,
Albania, Bulgaria, Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine, as the other seven countries
tagged by a recent UNODC report as Nigeria's counterparts in the despicable
record of most trafficked persons in the world. Babies
bred for sale in Nigeria www.mg.co.za/article/2008-11-09-babies-bred-for-sale-in-nigeria
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 Nigeria. At the
hospital in Enugu, a large city in Nigeria's
south-east, 20 teenage girls were rescued in May in a police swoop on what
was believed to be one of the largest infant trafficking rings in the West
African country. 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). How
immigration officials and voodoo aid human trafficking business in Nigeria www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art200810243203246 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
Nigeria, victims have often failed to show up in court to testify against
them for fear that they would die if they violate the oaths they took. In
administering the oaths, the source said traffickers usually collect the
finger nails, menstrual blood and pubic hairs of the girls in preparing
concoctions. NAPTIP’s Deputy Director of
Prosecution and Legal Services, Mr. Abdulrahim Shaibu, said his agency had had difficulty prosecuting
traffickers because “victims are afraid of juju and are hardly forthcoming.” Inside
the Nigerian transnational human trafficking industry www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art200810152335195 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 Italy, they are taken to the
sex market towns of Livorno, Torinto
and Genova where they are sold to bosses or madams.
”They sold them for 20,000 Dollars and the traffickers make about
90,000-100,000 million Liras from each girl. Most of the girls prostitutes on
the rented portions of roads and their clients often have sex with them in
the bush or in their cars.” The girls, Aghatise
says, make daily returns to their bosses or madams who he explains usually
employ the services of cult members to enforce compliance. 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 Italy while prostituting. 45-yr-old woman arrested over alleged child trafficking www.tribune.com.ng/29072008/news/news21.html 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 Ogbomosho to
work and be paid. According to him, one of the children said they were being
taken to the town to work on a farms as labourers
and as house helps. Clare
Short: A tortuous tale of human trafficking 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 Holland. She signed a
paper to say that she would repay the fare.
She left two children with relatives and said she would send money. When she got to Holland, she was
imprisoned in a flat and forced to work as a prostitute. She was paid nothing
and had a terrible time, all along desperately worried about her children.
After some time, she escaped and lived for a while homeless on the streets.
She found she was pregnant. She then
met a kind Dutch man who took her home and cared for her. Her daughter was
born and he suggested they marry. They
went to the Dutch authorities to try to regularise
her position. They said she must return to Nigeria to apply to return. She
agreed to do this because she wanted to be legal, but they would not let her
take her daughter because she was born in Holland. Her daughter was taken
into care. 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 UK
and applying for asylum. Her Dutch partner comes to visit her regularly. They have married in the UK, but she cannot
go with him to Holland. She cannot
work in the UK. She cannot join her husband in Holland. She is terrified for
her children in Nigeria and yearning to see her daughter who is now eight and
in care in Holland. Poverty, responsible for human trafficking – Imoke www.thetidenews.com/article.aspx?qrDate=05/27/2008&qrTitle=Poverty,%20responsible%20for%20human%20trafficking%20%E2%80%93%20Imoke&qrColumn=NIGER%20DELTA 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 Cross River is the incidence of child rejection … Human trafficking endangers Nigeria's future — Immigration allafrica.com/stories/200805270077.html www.vanguardngr.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8958&Itemid=44 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 Nigeria, “it has
its victims among foreigners and Nigerians alike. They are usually
transported by road, by sea and by air using several disguises, via Gabon, Cameroun and other neighbouring
countries to undertake inhuman jobs under degrading conditions. Nigeria:
Porous Border Aids Human Trafficking 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 Europe," Ockiya said. "Our investigation shows that
40 percent of trafficked girls repatriated to Nigeria test positive to HIV
and this has serious social and economic implications," he said. Nigeria:
When Bankole Wept for Unfortunate Children Despite the fact that Nigeria is a
sovereign member of the United Nation and a competent signatory to the above
international instruments against child abuse; the intolerable social
phenomenon is on the steady increase in the country. In fact, it is absurd to
note that millions of Nigerian children are subjected daily to all forms of
abuse ranging from trafficking to slavery and forced labour.
This ugly situation continues in spite of the efforts by law enforcement
agencies, international, national and governmental authorities. Nigeria:
Police Rescues 105 Children From Human Traffickers 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. Nigeria: Country Leads in Women Trafficking to Europe -
Minister allafrica.com/stories/200711220512.html 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. Nigeria: Human Trafficking - a View From Edo State allafrica.com/stories/200711191161.html The contents of this article had
been incorporated and might still be accessible [here]
… scroll down - April
26, 2008 The phenomenon of human
trafficking in While lots of people blame poverty
or culture as a basis for human trafficking in Nigeria, NAPTIP says other
causes of the outrageous rate of human trafficking in the country are
ignorance, desperation, and the promotion and commercialization of sex by the
European Union (EU). Accused
human trafficker fights extradition It was part of an international police operation that led to another 19 people being arrested in Britain, the United States, Belgium, Spain, Holland, Ireland and Nigeria. Dutch officials said the smuggling ring used fear of voodoo to force dozens of young Nigerian children and women to work as prostitutes in European countries including the Netherlands, France, Italy and Spain. They said the under-age girls were forced to promise a voodoo priest in Nigeria that they would pay off debt. Nigeria: Victims of Human Trafficking Contract Aids allafrica.com/stories/200708160019.html Head of National Agency for the Prohibition
and Trafficking in Persons and other Related Matters (NAPTIP), Kano State zone, Ahmed M. Bello
has disclosed that over 60 per cent of victims of trafficking repatriated to
the country tested HIV positive. The victims who are mainly
teenagers, he added, engaged in prostitution overseas. 95 women arrested for alleged human trafficking www.thetidenews.com/article.aspx?qrDate=08/04/2007&qrTitle=95%20women%20arrested%20for%20alleged%20human%20trafficking&qrColumn=NEWS At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
“These teenage girls were brought
into Lawyer jailed for human trafficking www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/lawyer-jailed-for-human-trafficking-320681.html www.eveningecho.ie/news/story/?trs=mhcwaugbidkf 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 www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-67320.0.html#msg1309114 www.tribune.com.ng/20072007/igbo_feat.html 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. Nigeria
Intercepts 62 Suspected Child Laborers 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 Nigeria. What my boss is doing is to try
to reach out to those countries that have their citizens here, to take
custody of their citizens while we prosecute the traffickers." Child trafficking is punishable by a
maximum 10-year jail term in Nigeria. Rescued human trafficking victims go on hunger strike www.tribune.com.ng/18072007/news/news7.html The contents of this article had
been incorporated and may possibly still be accessible [here] 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 www.thetidenews.com/article.aspx?qrDate=07/10/2007&qrTitle=Media%20onslaught%20against%20child%20trafficking&qrColumn=FEATURES At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
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 In January Italian police smashed
several human trafficking rings involving African and eastern European
females and netted some 800 suspects.
Nigeria is the worst culprit in human trafficking where "peddlers
work quietly and in the open" unfazed by law enforcing agents, said Ndiaye. She said young girls were lured
with fraudulent offers of jobs in Europe, only to end up being violently
forced into prostitution. 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 Europe,
wishing to keep her identity hidden, explained what happened to her. Court jails father
of five for human trafficking A court in the southern Nigerian
city of Benin has jailed a 31-year-old father of five for human trafficking
in what human rights activists consider a significant victory against a
growing problem. Justice J.A. Acha of the city's high court jailed Constance Omoruyi for two years in addition to fining him 150,000
naira (US $1,171) on charges related to trafficking two women to work as
prostitutes in Europe. Human
Trafficking on the Rise in Nigeria 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 Maiduguri, state capital of Borno, in northeast Nigeria. This disclosure followed the
arrest of six people, including a medical doctor, for alleged involvement in
the sale of children. Nigeria/West
Africa: Human trafficking 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 Italy are Nigerians. Nigeria - Evils of Human Trafficking www.un-instraw.org/revista/hypermail/alltickers/fr/0184.html At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
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 Italy
where she was forced into prostitution. 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 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 AkwaIbom State to include, internal trafficking for
sexual exploitation, child trafficking for labour
exploitation and child abuse. 27 human trafficking victims get vocational training 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 Lagos for the purpose of domestic labour. Immigration
service to sensitise Bayelsans
on human trafficking 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 allafrica.com/stories/200607180240.html Africa tackles evils of modernised slave trade www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/viewpoints/vp512072006.html 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 Edo state and offer to send their female
children abroad. Such parents would be
told that their children would secure good jobs. NASS amends Human Trafficking Law The 2003 law on human trafficking
has been amended by the National Assembly to allow for the prohibition of
domestic labour in Nigeria. Nigerian
ladies rescued from prostitution syndicate’s den in Burkina Faso 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 www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/cover/december05/31122005/f431122005.html At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] She said at the age of 16, her
aunt came from Dream of freedom turns to prostitution nightmare www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49941 At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here]
"Two people working in an
apparently-normal travel agency arranged my journey. But once we arrived in Trafficked
Women in Italy Retain Faith Despite Exploitation Women smuggled into Help Sought to Combat www.netweed.com/lyricalswords/2005/05/we-gotta-combat-stuff-like-thisno.html#111656832965859910 At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] 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 Human trafficking and the sale of
human body parts are rampant in 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. NIGERIA: Fighting The Many Heads Of The Child-Trafficking
Beast www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46202&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=NIGERIA At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
"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 Nigeria's Battle With Trafficking It was a refrigerated truck, normally used for shipping frozen
fish, that a police surveillance team stopped in Child
Trafficking: Police Go After Victims' Parents allafrica.com/stories/printable/200503090484.html Police in London
Witchcraft Murder Traced to Africa Child Trade In September 2001 a gruesome discovery was made in Freedom
House Country Report - Political Rights: 5 Civil Liberties: 4 Status: Partly Free Human Rights Overview by Human
Rights Watch – Defending Human Rights Worldwide U.S. Library of Congress
- Country Study Container kids 'to be sold as slaves' 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 Abuja, the capital. “We are trying to find out what they would
be doing with children aged five to 14,” said Ighodalo.
“We are thinking maybe they are using them for slaves and house boys.” Human
traffickers from Nigeria The market in Benin City sells
just about everything: ladies' pants and bras, plastic bags, padlocks and
second-hand clothes known locally as fairly used. But this city in
south-eastern Nigeria also thrives on a less wholesome trade:
people-trafficking. Those who are trafficked are mostly young, female and
destined to work as prostitutes in Europe. No one knows how many are shipped
out each year, but everyone in Benin City knows someone who has gone. The
most popular destination appears to be Italy, where Nigerian girls in tight
jeans can be seen lolling on many a street corner. Nigeria's
'respectable' slave trade 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. [scroll down] [August 27, 2004] In The long road to freedom www.freespeechradio.net/april2004_part2.html At one time this article had been
archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
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 Ivory
Coast or Gabon, but increasingly in Europe, particularly in Italy, where a
well-organised criminal network distributes them to
major cities like Rome, Florence and Turin. The
lost children of Nigeria's sex trade 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 Europe for a “better
life”, she wanted to safeguard her investment. About 200,000 children such as Rita are
taken from their homes in West Africa each year and are sold into domestic slavery,
prostitution or worse, according to UNICEF UK. Slavery
fears for 'lost' children There are fears that large numbers
of children may be trafficked into Britain after police discovered up to 30
had been "lost". Campaigners fear thousands of
children are being used as domestic slaves after being brought into Britain. 'AUNTS' AND 'UNCLES' - The vast majority of the
children were from Nigeria, which is well known among law enforcement
officials as being the main source for trafficked children into Britain. "For years these children have been
arriving at Heathrow and we've been sending them through without having a
clue where they were going to," said a source familiar with the investigation,
who declined to be named. Scale
of African slavery revealed 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. Nigeria, for example, has
received trafficked people from 12 African countries, but trafficked
Nigerians have been found in a dozen countries too. 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' 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 Nigeria daily. 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 Nigeria. This initial intervention stemmed
from increased international attention to child labor. The attention includes
boycott threats of Ivory Coast cocoa, often harvested with the help of
trafficked children. Their parents had put them in the hands of labor
traffickers for as little as $35. 120 child workers
repatriated to Benin Nigeria sent back to Benin on
Wednesday 120 children who were smuggled into the country to work as slave labour, breaking stones at quarries, Benin government
officials said. The children were aged
between four and 13 and had been kidnapped from their parent, they told IRIN.
This was the second batch of child
workers to be repatriated from Nigeria to Benin since the two countries
established joint border patrols in August to crack down on smuggling and
banditry. A first group of 116, aged
between 10 and 12, was repatriated on 26 September. Child labor on cocoa farms 'tip of the iceberg' www.hrw.org/en/news/2003/04/01/west-africa-stop-trafficking-child-labor hrw.org/english/docs/2003/04/01/togo5489.htm 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 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. 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 - |
|||
Human Trafficking in [Nigeria Street Children in [Nigeria] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Nigeria] [other countries]