NIGERIA: 15 Million Children Toil in Slavery (18 November 2005)

Summary: NAPTIP (the National Agency for Prohibition and Trafficking in Persons and Other Related Matters) has disclosed that more than 15 million Nigerian children are being transported from rural to urban cities for child labour and slavery.

 

[LAGOS, 18 November 2005] - The National Agency for Prohibition and Trafficking in Persons and Other Related Matters (NAPTIP) has disclosed that more than 15 million Nigerian children are being transported from rural to urban cities for child labour and slavery.

Speaking at a seminar organised by Media Concern, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) in Lagos yesterday on a 'situation analysis of child abuse and child trafficking in Nigeria and the way forward, Mr. Godwin Morka, Head, Lagos Zonal Office, said it was a normal practice in the ancient time to have many children to work in their parents' farm land. Explaining some of the causes of child labour in the country, Morka said the introduction of Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) in the mid 1980s further compounded the problem, which made it difficult for many families to cater for their children.

"A good example of child labour is the Ipokia, Ogun State, where some stone breakers keep children in the bush with little food and make them work for long hours, breaking stones and loading it in Tippers for their slave masters to sell for their numerous customers. This is also happening in Ondo State, where they make children work in Cocoa farm. Presently, over 15 million Nigerian children are being taken from Akwa Ibom, Niger, Kwara, Osun, Oyo, Kogi, and several other parts of the country to another for exploitative labour".

The Lagos NAPTIP boss regretted that human trafficking had become a highly organised transactional crime that has criminal, moral, and social implications. He added that three people have been convicted and hundreds of victims counseled, rehabilitated and re-united with their families.

"Human trafficking has several dimensions because Nigeria is a source transit, and destination country. As a source country, thousand of young Nigerians are taken to other countries like Italy, Belgium, and even Saudi-Arabia. Nigeria also receives thousands of trafficked victims from various parts of Africa and the world, who are brought in for domestic labour and sexual exploitation.

"But we in NAPTIP have been working very hard to ensure that human traffickers are being dealt with and their business going down the drain, that is why so far, since 2003, the Agency has been able to prosecute many traffickers.

 

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