1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Human trafficking has become an issue of global concern on daily

basis human especially youth are trafficked across the worlds for

variety of reasons. Thousand of youth from Nigeria are sold into the

global sex trade every year often they are kidnapped or orphaned.

Sometime thing are actually sold by their own families. Human

trafficking can be defined as the commerce and trade in the

movement or migration of people legal and illegal including both

legitimate labour activities as well as forced labour. It can also mean

the recruitment transportation harbouring or receipt of people or the

purpose of slavery prostitution force labour and servitude. Office on

drugs and crime defines human trafficking as the recruitment

transportation transfer harbouring or receipt by mean of the threat

or use of force or other form of coercion of abduction of fraud of

deception of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability of the

given of receiving of payment or benefit to achieve the consent of a

person for the purpose of exploitation.

Human trafficking in the form of slavery has been in existence since

the earliest time it flourished in the ancient empires of Egypt

Babylon Greece and Rome and in domestic forms it was a

recognized institution in Africa with human servitude associated with

certain rites before its discovery by Europeans in the trans Atlantic

slave trade. The trans Atlantic slave trade spanned for four and half

centuries. Following the first contact of white men with Negroes first

as explorers and later as slave merchants with help of traditional

rulers thousands of able bodies men and women were capture and

transported by sea to American house holds and expensive

plantation in South America.

Nigeria started exporting women to Italy to engage in sex work since

the 1980’s since then the trade has grown and traffickers have

moved into take advantage of the poverty and collapse of social

programmes that occurred under military rule. Italian authorities

estimate that over 10000 Nigerians prostitutes work in Italy many of

them are victims of trafficking.

Trafficking was earlier confined to movement between countries or

regions globalization with it’s attempt to create one world is also

creating a world without borders for trafficking. The global trade in

human being persists and is expanding in unimaginable scales.

According to Fayeye (2006) trafficking of human involved moving

men women and children from one place to another and placing

them in condition of forced labour. The practice include forced

prostitution domestic servitude unsafe agricultural labour

construction of restaurant work and various forms of modern day

slavery.

According to the report released by European Unions Justice and

Home Affairs commission (2001) young women and girls are

particularly vulnerable to trafficking because of the low status of

women poverty and lack of education and professional opportunities

policy makers in many countries are recognizing the need to address

these problems by promoting gender equality. Youths who have

greater opportunities for education shelter food employment access

to legal and political systems and Freedom from violence will be less

vulnerable to being trafficked.

1.1.1 THE MAJOR CAUSES OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING

Below are the factors that can be identified as the major cause of

human trafficking.

POVERTY

Although Nigeria is the largest oil producer in Africa and the eleventh

largest in the world that is Nigeria has enormous natural and human

resources but it is rated as one of the poorest countries in the world

with a GDP per capital of about US $1.000 (2005 – esti.) for a

population of about 130 million. There is massive unemployment and

a general lack of opportunities for economic ventures low standard of

living devalued local currencies and failure to meet the health food

habitat and security need of the people.

The economic situation is such that most parents are unable to care

and properly feed their families. Parent subject their children to

various forms of labour including trafficking for economic gains.

PERVERSION OF CULTURAL TRADITIONS

In Nigeria the children care is the responsibility of the extended

family. This practice provide social balance and is meant to prevent

the effects of poverty among the extended family members and to

stop the cycle of poverty by placing the children of the poor with

weather relatives for proper care and up bringing. In recent years

this form of cultural or traditional postering has been exploited by

traffickers to recruit children. Sometimes the parents or guardians

solicit the help of traffickers themselves this often happens out of

ignorance as to what the conditions will be for the children and with

the hope that they will be well educated or will acquire other skills for

future advancement.

Manipulation of Religious Rituals

Some form of trafficking are under played and not typically regarded

as human trafficking. In Northern Nigeria for example human

trafficking is often disguised as institutionalized migration thrown as

“peripatetic scholarship” or “Almajirci” and sometime through religious

pilgrim ages called “Hajj” or “Umra”. The rationale for traveling to the

city the quest of Islamic knowledge is often forgotten when hunger

and neglect begin to take their foll. Unfortunately both the

benefactors and the pupils are often unaware that this constitutes and

aberration from international norms. This “Amajirci” is like trafficking

because of the servitude and exploitation that goes a long with it.

Though not all Qur’an teachers in the Northern Nigeria are involved in

this practice which is becoming old fashioned and quite unpopular it

remain common among teachers in the rural area.

Children and young women are also lured into exploitative migration

and sex work via their desire to go to Saudi Arabia for pilgrimage.

This is another example of Islamic being manipulated for the purpose

of trafficking.

Harmful Cultural and Social Realities.

A significant portion of females in Nigeria society could be seen as

culturally submissive. Despite recent urbanization many traditional

social norms remain intact and even well educated women can still

have marginal status. Women cannot inherit property even if thing

are the only remaining heir. Thus women are trapped within a rigid

hierarchy where the will of men is to be respected. This makes them

extremely vulnerable to the manipulation and influence of traffickers.

Another area requiring further investigation in the impact of broken

home on the vulnerability of children to trafficking.

Lack of Information

Traffickers usually recruit the vulnerable with promises of better

conditions elsewhere. The typical bait is a job opportunity with higher

earnings then those available in the local community. Traffickers also

use the opportunity of further education or the acquisition of skills.

The majority of trafficker person are unaware of the form of labour to

which they will be subjected. They are not likely to find employment

which only worse their economic condition and drives them once

again into the hands of traffickers.

Peer Pressure

Children fall victim to human trafficking because of peer pressure

and lack of alternative opportunities with their impoverished home

communities. They often seek out traffickers on their own initiative

and thus recruited. And some children run away with friends to find

and be recruited by traffickers so as to enjoy the big city life.

HIV and AIDS AIDS Orphans

HIV and AIDS weak havoc in the country in 2003 26% of all orphans

were orphaned due to AIDS. Consequently most of these children

left on their own are easily recruited by traffickers

Weak Legal Frame Work

Human trafficking has flourished due to the lackluster attitude of law

enforcement and weak legal frame work which mainly focuses on

trafficking for sexual exploitation. Generally law enforcement agents

are ill-equipped and lack the technical know-how and gender

sensitivity to handle cases. The conviction of traffickers is quite rare

and even if convicted they are typically released within a short period

of time.

Need for Low Skilled Labour

The global reach and scale of trafficking in humans is the underside

of globalization. Globalization has created power market demand for

cheap low-skilled labour in sectors such as agriculture food

processing construction domestic service labour-intensive

manufacturing home care sex work and the entertainment sector.

Such demand exists in both industrialized and developing countries.

The types of work where trafficked labour is used tend to be located

in sectors where it is easier to maintain highly exploitative working

condition that are gross violations of human rights and labour

standard in locations and conditions that are difficult to monitor.

High Profits

Modern day slavery thrives because of its profitability. The UN

estimates it generates US $7-10billion annually the third largest

profits behind arms dealing and narcotics. It is also easier to move

human cargo then drugs across the border or weapon which are

seized when found. And also human being can be constantly re-used

and re-trafficked not so for drugs.

Low Risk

Human trafficking is secret and dangerous. As a result few will bears

witness against the traffickers. Fear and mistrust of the police the

lack of documentation and fear of complicity also play a part in

maintaining the victims silence. Most victims are poor illiterate from

marginalized populations and are ignorant of their rights.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEMS

The high rate of human trafficking in Nigeria has caused enormous

problems to Nigerians and also the country.

Human trafficking reduces the economic perspective of the country.

For instance human trafficking cause loss of human resources else

where to other countries this means Nigeria will have less human

resources to promote it industrial sectors and it can lead to declined

in developmental indices of the country further more young workers

will be in short supply in the next decade which will lead the labour

force of the country to be ill-equipped to compete in global economic

where success in based on skilled workers.

Denial of access to education necessary to break the cycle of poverty

and illiteracy that creates trafficking the youth will not get access to

schools so they will not be acquainted with the technological know

how to alleviate poverty in the country.

Human trafficking increase crime addiction and sexual violence which

will lead to prostitution and increase in HIV victims.

1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The purpose of the study is to: -

1. Generate timely and accurate information concerning human

trafficking.

2. To provide a media for safe keeping of all human trafficking

information.

3. To develop on efficient database management software that

can be used for complex search with different criteria.

4. To develop a software that can generate report by just a mouse

click.

1.4 SIGNIFICANT OF THE STUDY

Below are some of the significant of the study.

i. Improved access to education promote the production of

qualitative learning and teaching materials and to promote a

child friendly environment.

ii. To avoid prostitution in the society which can be lead to

spreading of AIDS.

iii. Protection of children’s right.

iv. Contributes to the successful planning and implementation of

activities that work to eliminate all forms of child labour and

trafficking in the country.

v. To provide awareness because lack of awareness is the grass

roots of the abuses of child.

1.5 RESEARCH QUESTION

i. How timely and accurate are the information on human

trafficking obtained?

ii. How safe are the media used for keeping of human trafficking

related information?

iii. How fast do you get the exact information you want concerning

human trafficking?

iv. What methods are used in compiling the reports of all human

trafficking with in a period of time?

1.5.1 Hypothesis

Hypothesis are imagined answers to real problem or question. The

following are the hypothesis of the research effort.

Ho: Majority of human trafficking are cause by poverty.

Hi: Human trafficking can never be eradicated but can be drastically

reduce.

1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The research work in limited to children and women. And also this

problem can be reduce by eradicating of poverty and a lot of

awareness.

1.7 DEFINITION OF TERMS

UNICEF - United Nations International Fund.

TIP - Trafficking in person

UN - United Nation

AIDS - Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.

HIV - Human Immunodeficiency Virus

WOTCLEF - Women Trafficking and Child Labour

Eradication Foundation

ILO - International Labour Organization

NAPTIP - National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic

in Person and other relation on matters.

IPEC - International Programme on the Elimination of

Child labour.