CHAPTER ONE

1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY

Human trafficking is the trade of women and children for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others.

        According to Poulin, (2004) stated that women and children trafficking, like money laundering, advanced fee fraud, cyber scams and illicit trade in arms and narcotics has elicited a great concern as a contemporary social problem worldwide. To place the growth rate of women and children trafficking in Nigeria, the government has set up series of measures and embarked on legislations while aligning with international protocols as both preventive and deterrent measures.

In 2001, it ratified the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially women and Children as well as passed a national law in 2003 trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Law Enforcement and Administration Act 2003. Through this act, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons NAPTIP) was established (David-Odigie. 20O8). Nigeria is one of the few countries in Africa to have passed a national law against trafficking.

Section 4 of the Nigerian Trafficking law empowers the NAPTIP to coordinate all the laws on trafficking in persons in the country. Thus, all laws on human trafficking at the state level became subordinate to the national law on trafficking. Certain chapters of the constitution provide protection for vulnerable groups including women and children. However, the sanctions against infringements of these provisions are too weak. Criminals are frequently allowed to escape serious human rights abuses with impunity (UNICEF, 2001). The result is a distrust of the legal system and its punishments. Consequently, there is a need for strong institutional tools to identify and punish women and children traffickers. The Convention on the Rights of the Child was ratified by Nigeria and implemented by the Child Rights Act of 2003.

The Child Rights Act deals comprehensively with the issue of child trafficking in Nigeria. Unfortunately, this Act has not been adopted by all the States of the Federation and so its effectiveness cannot be fully measured. Trafficking in women was criminalized in Nigeria by the criminal code in 1904 and the penal code in 1900. However, the criminal penal codes did not deal with the issue comprehensively enough, failing to accurately define what constitutes trafficking and leaving its various forms unaddressed. Instead, they only defined those offences related to the external and internal trafficking for prostitution and slavery. Section 279 of the Penal Code reads:

“Whoever imports, exports removes, buys, sells, disposes, traffics, or deals in any person as a slave or accepts, receives or detains in any person against his will any person as a slave shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to fourteen year and shall also be liable to a fine.”

Although Nigeria’s trafficking law provides a unified approach for the first time, it is not without its shortcomings. The law adopts the definition of trafficking in persons as contained in the Palerino Protocol but deals more extensively with trafficking for prostitution and sexual exploitation than with trafficking for other forms of labor. This greatly limits its scope. Moreover, there are lapses in the provisions of the Nigerian trafficking law for the protection of trafficked persons and witnesses. It thereby falls short of the recommended human rights standard approach (GAATW, 2001). While it is noteworthy that the law criminalizes the transport of potentially trafficked persons by any commercial carrier with knowledge of the trafficking transaction, no commercial carrier has ever been charged.

1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

Nigeria is a country that is richly blessed with labour force. But the prospect of socio-economic development has been affected with the women and children trafficking. The reason for women and children trafficking could be as a result of low high unemployment rate, or for the purpose of prostitution, it could also be for ritual purposes and slavery. Secondly there have been series of studies on human trafficking but not even a single study has been carried out on a statistical analysis on the negative impact of women and children trafficking in Nigeria from 1900 to 2017; hence a need for the research on the above topic.

1.3 AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF STUDY

The main aim of the research work is to carry out a statistical analysis on the negative impact of women and children trafficking in Nigeria from 1900-2017. Other specific objectives of the study are:

1. to determine the causes of women and children trafficking in Nigeria
2. to determine the extent to which women and children trafficking has affected the availability of labour in Nigeria
3. to determine the impact of women and children trafficking on socio-economic development in Nigeria
4. to determine the role of government in the control of women and children trafficking in Nigeria from 1900-2017
5. to proffer solution to the issues of women and children trafficking in Nigeria

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The study came up with research questions so as to answer the above objectives of the study. The research questions for the study are:

1. What are the causes of women and children trafficking in Nigeria?
2. To what extent have women and children trafficking affected the availability of labour in Nigeria?
3. What is the impact of women and children trafficking on socio-economic development in Nigeria?
4. What are the roles of government in the control of women and children trafficking in Nigeria from 1900-2017?
5. What is the way forward to the issues of women and children trafficking in Nigeria?

1.5 STATEMENT OF RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

Hypothesis 1

H0: women and children trafficking has no significant effect on the socio-economic development in Nigeria

H1: women and children trafficking has significant effect on the socio-economic development in Nigeria

Hypothesis 2

 H0: women and children trafficking has no significant effect on the availability of labour in Nigeria

H1: women and children trafficking has significant effect on the availability of labour in Nigeria

1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY

The study on statistical analysis on the negative impact of women and children trafficking in Nigeria will be of immense benefit to the government (local, state and federal), and the Muritala airport, Ikeja, Nigeria in the sense that the study will show a statistical report of women and children trafficking activities in Nigeria from 1900-2017. Secondly the study will also show how women and children trafficking affect the socio-economic development in Nigeria through the records of trafficking activities and growth rate of the Nigeria economy from 1900-2017. Thirdly, the issues of child trafficking in Nigeria have become a serious matter and demands adequate attention by all and sundry. It will help National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons and other related matters (NAPTIP), Government and other Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) to assess how far the press has covered issues bothering on child trafficking. The study will serve as a repository of information on women and children trafficking for other researchers that desire to carry out a similar research on the negative impact of women and children trafficking in Nigeria.

1.7 SCOPE OF STUDY

The study on statistical analysis on the negative impact of women and children trafficking in Nigeria will focus on the report from Muritala airport, Ikeja from 1900-2017.

1.8 LIMITATION OF STUDY

Financial constraint- Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, statistical data).

Time constraint- The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.

1.9 DEFINITION OF TERMS

Human trafficking: Human trafficking in accordance to the research work is the trade of women and children for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others

Human Migration: Human migration is the movement by women and children from one place to another with the intentions of settling, permanently or temporarily in a new location.

Child labour: Child labour the employment of children in an industry or business, especially when illegal or considered exploitative