By Mr Okechukwu Chidi Ogbonna, criminology researcher at the Network of Law Enforcement and Regulatory Agencies Researchers (NETLAWR) SWAIMS webinar held on 31st March 2021 with civil society organisations (CSOs) in Nigeria

1. BY
OKECHUKWU C. OGBONNA
BA(Hons.), MA International and Comparative Criminal Justice,
University of Leeds, UK.
Consultant/Member, Network of Law Enforcement and
Regulatory Researchers (NETLAWR) A CSO.
HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN THE
NIGER DELTA: MODUS
OPERANDI AND SOLUTIONS

2. Outline
INTRODUCTION
 Definition of Human Trafficking (HT)
 Human Trafficking and the Old Slave Trade
 Human Trafficking-Modus Operandi in the Niger
Delta
 HT in Niger Delta and Maritime (in)Security
SOLUTIONS
 NAPTIP and anti HT Campaigns
 The 5th P (added to the 4Ps of anti HT
Intervention)
 LOCPI – (Meaning and Implementation)

3. Definition
Human trafficking has been broadly and
comprehensively defined by the United
Nations Trafficking in Persons Protocol (2003),
as “… the recruitment … of persons, by
means … of fraud, of deception … for the
purpose of exploitation.”
(Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking
in Persons, especially Women and Children,
supplementing the United Nations Convention against
Transnational Organized Crime, United Nations (UN),
New York, 2003)

4. Definition: Contd.
Extant Statistics:
Victims of HT Globally – 20.9
m
Forced Labour - 68%
Female Victims - 55%
Child Victims - 26%

5. HT and the Old Slavery
Human Trafficking Old Slavery
 One human being is
illegally controlled by
another individual
 Trafficker profits off
the fruits of their
victim’s labour.
 Mainly Women, Girls
and Children
 Illegal and clandestine
in all countries
 One human being is
legally owned by
another
 Owner profits off the
fruits of the slave’s
labour,
 Men, Women,
Children victims
 Legalized in several
societies then

6. HT Modus Operandi in the Niger
delta
 HT occurs widely across Nigeria - internally, such
as from villages to cities/between States, -
externally through other continental hubs
 Nigeria is a Source, Transit and Destination
country for HT
 International destinations for Nigerian Victims
include West and Central African countries (Cote
d’Ivoire, Mali, Benin, Equatorial Guinea,
Cameroon, Gabon and Guinea), European
countries (Italy, Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands,
German and the United Kingdom), North African
countries (Libya, Algeria and Morocco) and Saudi
Arabia in Middle East (Omorodion, 2009).

7. HT Modus Operandi in the Niger
delta
 The business of human trafficking in Nigeria has
developed to become an organized and lucrative
trade managed by syndicates within and outside
the country (Ogunniran, 2017).
 Women and girls are trafficked primarily for
domestic servitude and forced commercial sexual
exploitation, while boys are trafficked for forced
labour in street vending and domestic servitude
(Hounmenou, 2018; Ngwe and Elechi, 2012).

8. HT Modus Operandi in the Niger
delta
The 9 oil
producing states
of the Niger
delta include;
Abia
Akwa Ibom
Bayelsa
Cross River
Delta
Edo
Imo
Ondo
Rivers

9. HT Modus Operandi in the Niger
delta
 Baby Factories
 Domestic Servitude
 Sexual Exploitation
 Forced Labour

10. HT in Niger Delta and Maritime
(in)Security
 The exploitation of youthful vulnerabilities,
manifest in 3 broad areas, namely, political,
economic and socio-cultural arenas.
 Political – Relevance in governance
 Economic – Control of resources
 Socio-cultural – Reaction to the culture of
impunity in their region

11. HT in Niger Delta and Maritime
(in)Security
Attacks on sea-going
vessels, fuel
smuggling, illegal
fishing, unregulated
shipment of
pharmaceuticals like
Tramadol are all
alluded to as being
instigated by Niger
delta militia, made up
of those trafficked
youths who
unwittingly or
otherwise, become
tools in the hands of
warlords in the Niger
delta to perpetrate
these transnational
crimes.
(D. Siebels (2020),
Gulf of Guinea:
Fighting Criminal
Groups in the Niger
Delta is Key to
defeating Piracy.
Visited - March 10,
2021)

12. NAPTIP and anti HT Campaigns
 The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons
especially Women and Children – established 2003
 Between July 2003 and December 2019, NAPTIP rescued a total of
14,688 victims of human trafficking.
 Of the 7,487 total reported cases they received, 3,935 were investigated
and 332 convictions were made.
 Edo State in the Niger delta is one of the largest human trafficking
departure points in Africa
 Per the latest Global Slavery Index (2018) Report, Nigeria ranks 32/167
of the countries with the highest number of slaves – 1,386,000
 Nigeria is in Tier 2Watchlist currently
 (Mr.Okechukwu Chidi Ogbonna served as the Personal Assistant to
the Pioneer Executive Secretary of NAPTIP. He was also a Senior
Research Officer with the Agency between 2006 - 2008)

13. The 5th P (added to the 4Ps of anti
HT Intervention)
 4 Ps of human trafficking intervention include
 Prevention of human trafficking; Protecting the
victims; Prosecution of Offenders and
Partnership with friends against human
trafficking,
 A 5th P – Prioritization, which essentially speaks
to the prioritization of various intervention
programmes and processes aimed at resolving
the menace of transnational organized crime and
maritime insecurity, in a sustainable manner.

14. LOCPI – (Meaning and
Implementation)
 Local Ownership of Crime Prevention
Initiatives (LOCPI)
 LOCPI -a crime prevention initiative that
appeals to the millions of impressionistic youth of
the Niger delta, who may in the process of being
“…attracted down criminal routes”
 A forum where every stakeholder in Niger delta
maritime community is represented at State and
Local Government levels

15. LOCPI – (Meaning and
Implementation)
 4 Principles of Globalised Law –
 Universality principle says that human rights
must be the same everywhere and for everyone;
 Solidarity principle, insists that benefits and
obligations are justly shared between members of
the society;
 Subsidiarity principle, believes that decision
making authority is best placed where
responsibility for actions will occur and closest to
where actions that would produce the outcomes
would be taken;
 Horizontality (Democratization) principle lays
emphases on a grassroots bottoms-up process of
administration.

16. LOCPI – (Meaning and
Implementation)
 MEMBERSHIP OF LOCPI
 Government representatives (States and Local Authority)
 Oil and oil services companies
 Students (Tertiary and Secondary Institutions)
 Law Enforcement Agencies
 Regulatory Agencies such as NIMASA, NPA, Shippers’
Council, etc
 NDDC
 NNPC
 Farmers/Fishermen Association
 Environmentalists
 Traders/Market Associations
 Youth Representatives

17. Thank You for
your kind
attention

18. Prepared by:
Okechukwu C. Ogbonna, (Consultant
Criminologist)
B.A. (Hons). M.A. International and Comparative
Criminal Justice, University of Leeds, Leeds,
U.K.
Coordinator/Member, Network of Law Enforcement
and Regulatory Researchers (NETLAWR). A
CSO.