Country
Modern slavery in Nigeria
13 documented cases recorded in Nigeria, 2008–2024. Locations are deliberately generalized to protect survivors.
Benin City, Edo, Nigeria
Recruitment hub for European trafficking route. Young women deceived with promises of hairdressing jobs subjected to debt bondage of 35000-70000 euros Accused: Nigerian Madams operating from Italy with local recruiters.
Benin City, Nigeria
Young women and girls from Edo State are systematically recruited with false job promises and trafficked through Libya to Europe for sexual exploitation, controlled through debt bondage and traditional oath-taking rituals. Accused: Trafficking networks operating recruitment pipelines from Edo State through Libya.
Aba, Nigeria, Nigeria
Dr Hyacinth Orikara proprietor of the Cross Foundation Owner of the "illegal baby factory" is likely to face child abuse and human trafficking charges. Buying or selling of babies is illegal in Nigeria and can carry a 14-year jail term. Location: Cross Foundation Aba, Nigeria Nigerian police have raided a home allegedly being used to force teenage girls to have babies that were then offered for sale for trafficking or other purposes, authorities said on Wednesday. Some of the girls told police they had been offered to sell their babies for between 25,000 and 30,000 naira (192 dollars) depending on the sex of the baby. The babies would then be sold to buyers for anything from 300,000 naira to one million naira (1,920 and 6,400 dollars) each, according to a state agency fighting human trafficking in Nigeria, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).
Enugu, Nigeria, Nigeria
The traffricker was arrested by Enugu police and will soon be arraigned in court. The investigation is continuing. More information:http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/41655?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
Benin City, Nigeria, Nigeria
A Nigerian high chief was arrested for allegedly sending a young woman abroad without her consent for purposes of commercial sexual exploitation. The girl was being sent to Italy, but was currently trapped in Libya. The chief claims it was actually a sister who requested him to recruit the girl to work in her beer parlor in Italy, but the sister denies this. The family has been able to speak briefly to the girl by phone, but she did not seem free to talk, answering only yes or no, and her captor is demanding 500 Euros for her freedom. At other times Libyan officials have claimed that the sea through which the girl must travel to Italy is not yet safe. The trafficker calls itself a “sponsor” and lures young people with the offer of living abroad. Their lure has captured virtually every family in the Edo State, but most are unaware their children have been trafficked, knowing only that they are “living abroad”. The two most common destination countries are Spain and Italy. Victims also pass through an intermediary country—Libya for Italy and Morocco for Spain. They normally spend months in that transit country, and many of them die there. While there, they are taken to a juju (voodoo) priest, who performs rituals to ensure that they never reveal the secrets of the trafficking trade. They are wrapped in a wrapper that has been removed from a corpse, and are sometimes made to drink water from a dead body, while swearing to different gods. One of the juju priests admitted that there are three major oaths they administer to the girls being trafficked : One is ,if she gets to that place, she should not run away with any body they ask her to stay with. The other one is; if she gets there, she should not arrest her sponsor with the police. And the third is: any thing she knows that can kill her sponsor without alerting her, she will be punished too. And at the end of the day, if she does not violate any of the oaths, she will get whatever she wants in her life. These are the claims made by the juju priests. The traffickers are believed to have residency permits in Europe, and use people in Nigeria as their messengers. Those who are sent to Libya become sex slaves of the security guards tending them. More information: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2009/09/18/benin-herbalistschiefs-caught-for-human-trafficking/
Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria, Nigeria
In September 2009, over 500 girls were returned to Nigeria who had been held in underground jails in Libya as sex slaves for nearly a year. This group told police that over 2,000 others had died in Libyan jails since January 2009, most of them killed in the desert by the security forces. The trafficker calls itself a “sponsor” and lures young people with the offer of living abroad. Their lure has captured virtually every family in the Edo State, but most are unaware their children have been trafficked, knowing only that they are “living abroad”. The two most common destination countries are Spain and Italy. Victims also pass through an intermediary country—Libya for Italy and Morocco for Spain. They normally spend months in that transit country, and many of them die there. While there, they are taken to a juju (voodoo) priest, who performs rituals to ensure that they never reveal the secrets of the trafficking trade. They are wrapped in a wrapper that has been removed from a corpse. More information: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2009/09/18/benin-herbalistschiefs-caught-for-human-trafficking/
Lagos, Nigeria, Nigeria
311 children were intercepted in Lagos from other countries, many of whom came in through towns along Nigeria's border. Of these, 250 were from Benin, 67 from Togo, 12 from Ghana, 4 from Cameroon, and 3 from Congo. The children were sold as domestic servants and prostitutes for Nigerian brothels. More information: http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/features/living/2009/aug/22/living-22-08-2009-002.htm
Kano, Nigeria, Nigeria
A man asked his wife to allow their 9 year old stepson to accompnay him to visit his parents at Kintampo in the Brong Ahafo Region. She gave her consent because that had been the usual practice whereby every December, the husband went to his parents for items for the Christmas celebration. The report said this time around, instead of going to Kintampo, the husbandtook the stepson to Kano, Nigeria, and sold him to an Alhaji for 158,000 naira (about $1,000).
Benin City, Nigeria, Nigeria
A 22 year old girl was recruited by a family friend, telling her mother he would "help" her "travel out." The poor mother, who sold snails at a local market to eek out a meager living, thought her daughter was obtaining a good job. Instead she was sent to Spain where she was forced to work as a prostitute for ten months, until she was deported. The girl was charged for the cost of her trip, putting her into debt bondage. She paid her "madam" 25,000 Euros in 10 months, but was told she must work until the madam was "satisfied." Others familiar with sex trafficking between Nigeria and Spain say it is not uncommon for girls to have to pay back $50,000. Her pimps forced her to have sex with them and beat her into submission. Further, on the day of her departure, her intimate hairs and nails were shaved and given to her captor so that he could "curse" her in case she decided to escape.
Abeokuta, Nigeria, Nigeria
A five year old boy from Benin was seized as he walked home from school in his home town near the Nigerian border. He was blindfolded and shoved into a waiting car, then taken by various motorbikes and busses. Eventually he joined other children aged 5 to 15 at Abeokuta, forced to dig up granite every day for his master. Working 12 to 16 hours a day, he was paid the equivalent of 38 cents a week. All the children were malnourished. In all there were seven child slave camps discovered in the Nigerian states of Ogun, Oyo, and Osun. More information: http://gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Benin.htm
Abeokuta, Nigeria, Nigeria
A group of 74 Beninese children ranging from 4 to 17 years old were trafficked to Nigeria and worked in the rock quarries at Abeokuta. For more information: http://gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Benin.htm
Abeokuta, Nigeria, Nigeria
A group of 116 Beninese children were trafficed from Benin and forced to work in the rock quarries at Abeokuta, Nigeria.
Nigeria-Ghana-Italy, Nigeria
The female victim was trafficked from Nigeria through Ghana to Italy, where she was forced to have sex with more than 25 men a day. If she resisted, her “madam” would beat her with a belt, starve her, and threaten to deport her. She would rotate through Turin, Rome, and Milan, enduring mental torture and physical abuse at each base. Anita’s traffickers raped her several times, and she underwent several crude abortions. The victim survived, but some of her friends died in the ordeal.