1 Rodney, WHow Europe Underdeveloped Africa (1972, Bogle-L'Ouverture Publications) at 104–12Google Scholar. A more recent analysis of the impact of the slave trade on Africa is contained in Ilo, SCThe Face of Africa: Looking Beyond the Shadows (2008, Spectrum Books Ltd) at 68–82Google Scholar.

2 See Slavery Abolition Act 1804 in England, the Convention to Suppress the Slave Trade and Slavery, 1926, and the Convention Relative to the Slave Trade and Importation into Africa of Firearms, Ammunition and Spiritous Liquors, 1890.

3 It is estimated that global annual profits from human trafficking are around $31.6 billion, which is the third highest level of profits for illegal activities (behind arms dealing and narcotics trafficking). See UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) An Introduction to Human Trafficking: Vulnerability, Impact and Action (2008, UNODC) at 96Google Scholar.

4 Jones, L et al. “Globalization and human trafficking” (2007) 34/2Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare 107 at 108–09Google Scholar.

5 Bales, K “Expendable people: Slavery in the age of globalization” (2000) 53/2Journal of International Affairs 461 at 473–75Google Scholar; see also Wheaton, EM et al. “Economics of human trafficking” (2010) 48/4International Migration 114CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed.

6 For example, the Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others 1949, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989, and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, 1999.

7 Adepoju, A “Review of research and data on human trafficking in sub-Saharan Africa” (2005) 43/1 and 2 International Migration 75 at 80–82CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Fitzgibbon, K “Modern-day slavery? The scope of trafficking in persons in Africa” (2003) 12/1African Security Review 81 at 82CrossRefGoogle Scholar. This is not to understate the role of other social factors such as family circumstances, and low levels of education and awareness of the implications of the practice.

8 The 2006 census put the country's population at 140 million and it is now estimated to have risen to well over 150 million; see: <http://www.nigeriamasterweb.com/nigeria06CensusFigs.html> (last accessed 12 April 2011). This is about one sixth of the population of Africa, currently estimated at one billion.

9 “Female trafficking in Nigeria” (28 March 2001) Africa News at 5; Carling, JMigration, Human Smuggling and Trafficking from Nigeria to Europe (2005, International Organization for Migration) at 45Google Scholar.

10 Department of State Trafficking in Persons: Ten Years of Partnering to Combat Modern Slavery (2010, Bureau of Public Affairs) at 255Google Scholar.

11 It is a subject that has necessitated several conferences, workshops and studies in the country. Madunagu, BETrafficking in Girls: Report of a Study in Akwa Ibom and Cross River States of Nigeria (2002, Clear Lines Publications)Google Scholar.

12 It is to the credit of Nigerians that, after almost three decades of military rule, the country has remained under a democratic form of government since 29 May 1999. Although the complexion of the present democracy could be improved to enhance greater citizen participation in governance, it represents modest steps. See Ojo, EO and Adebayo, PF “Can Nigeria's nascent democracy survive?” (2009) 11/1Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa 1Google Scholar.

13 Jones et al “Globalization and human trafficking”, above at note 4 at 110–12.

14 Human smuggling has been described as “the procurement, in order to obtain, directly or indirectly, a financial or other material benefit, of the illegal entry of a person into a State Party of which the person is not a national or a permanent resident”: art 3(a) Protocol Against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, 2000.

15 Trafficking Protocol, art 3. The protocol came into force on 25 December 2003 following the required number of ratifications. A critique of the limited human rights approach of this protocol to the problem of slavery is contained in Hathaway, JC “The human rights quagmire of human trafficking” (2009) 49 Virginia Journal of International Law 1 at 4–7Google Scholar. It may also be mentioned that one significant limitation of the protocol is that it addresses only the transnational dimension of human trafficking, while the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Law Enforcement and Administration Act, 2003 commendably addresses both the internal and external dimensions of the practice, as shown later in this article.

16 See the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (Ratification and Enforcement) Act, 2003.

17 This requirement could, arguably, have been met with the amendment where necessary of the Criminal and Penal Code provisions on human trafficking, coupled with a strong commitment to their enforcement.

18 The Rome Statute was adopted on 17 July 1998 and entered into force on 1 July 2002.

19 The Rome Statute, art 7(2)(c) (emphasis added).

20 Id, art 7(1).

21 Adopted by GA res 2200A (XXI), 16 December 1966. It entered into force on 23 March 1976.

22 The charter was adopted by the 18th Assembly of Heads of State and Governments of the Organization of African Unity on 28 June 1981 in Nairobi, Kenya and entered into force on 21 October 1986.

23 The protocol was adopted on 11 July 2003 and entered into force on 25 November 2005. See also arts 16(1), 27 and 29 of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, 1999 which makes similar provisions in relation to children.

24 1999 Constitution, sec 34(1)(a)(b).

25 Id, sec 46. On the enforcement of such rights in the country, see Falana, FFundamental Rights Enforcement in Nigeria (2nd ed, 2010, Legal Text Publishing Co Ltd)Google Scholar.

26 (1991) 6 NWLR, pt 200, 708 at 764–65. See also Hon, STConstitutional Law and Jurisprudence in Nigeria (2004, Pearl Publishers) at 89Google Scholar.

27 It is on this score that a holistic approach to the problem is advocated in this article.

28 Bowman, CG and Kuenyehia, AWomen and Law in Sub-Saharan Africa (2003, Sedco Publishing Ltd) at 411Google Scholar; Awe, B “From drug to human trafficking” (2000) 2/1 and 2 WOPED NEWS at 5Google Scholar.

29 Madunagu Trafficking in Girls, above at note 11 at 53.

30 This is because the beneficiaries see this as a form of favour extended to them by the agents, which in the African context requires expression of gratitude.

31 Madunagu Trafficking in Girls, above at note 11 at 53.

32 Whyte, AThe Abuse of the Nigerian Child (2002, Evans Brothers Nigeria Publishers) at 33–39Google Scholar.

33 Appln no ECW/CCJ/AA/08/08, judgment no ECW/CCJ/JUD/06/08 of 27 October 2008. It is significant that Hadijatou has since received several awards for her courage and tenacity in pursuing this case through the various stages of the legal process, culminating in the ECOWAS court decision.

34 Id at 12. See for example, art 5 of the African Charter.

35 See U Kalu “Nigeria: How child trafficking network operates in South East” (30 July 2011) Vanguard, available at: <http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/07/how-child-trafficking-network-operates-in-south-east/> (last accessed 29 August 2011).

36 Ibid. It is also reported that the price for a set of twins is N450,000 ($3,000).

37 Bowman and Kuenyehia Women and Law, above at note 28 at 423; Gbadamosi, OAInternational Perspectives and Nigerian Laws on Human Trafficking (2006, Network for Justice and Democracy) at 26Google Scholar.

38 Ibid. It has even been revealed that the fear of possible repercussions from the fetish oaths prevents victims from agreeing to testify against their traffickers when trafficking cases are taken to court: M Mojeed “How immigration officials and voodoo aid human trafficking business in Nigeria” (24 October 2008) The Punch, available at: <http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art200810243203246> (last accessed 9 September 2011).

39 Mojeed, ibid.

40 Peel, EThe Law of Contract (12th ed, 2007, Sweet & Maxwell) at 567Google Scholar. There are, however, limited exceptions to the general rule under which contracts with minors are not void but voidable. Similarly, art 3(c) of the Trafficking Protocol makes a child's apparent consent to exploitation irrelevant.

41 Peel, ibid.

42 Id at 446.

43 Dimskal Shipping Co SA v International Transport Workers Federation [1992] 2 AC 152 at 165. Moreover, undue influence exerted on a party to a contract can lead to the setting aside of the contract in equity. See Royal Bank of Scotland v Etridge (No 2) [2002] 2 AC 773.

44 IOM Trafficking in Women to Italy for Sexual Exploitation (1997, IOM) at 2Google Scholar. See also International Labour Organization The Cost of Coercion: Global Report on the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (2009, International Labour Organization) at 6–8Google Scholar. It is based on this understanding that art 3 of the Trafficking Protocol states that the consent of the person being trafficked is irrelevant as long as the other components of the practice such as deception, coercion, exploitation are present.

45 K Fitzgibbon “Modern-day slavery?”, above at note 7 at 85; Bowman and Kuenyehia Women and Law, above at note 28 at 423.

46 UNODC Measures to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings in Benin, Nigeria and Togo (2006, UNODC) at 32–33Google Scholar.

47 Richards, K “The trafficking of migrant workers: What are the links between labour trafficking and corruption?” (2004) 42/5International Migration 147 at 156–58CrossRefGoogle Scholar; IOM Human Smuggling and Trafficking from Nigeria to Europe (2006, IOM research series no 23) at 23–24Google Scholar. For an analysis of the socio-economic impact of corruption on Nigerian society, see Okogbule, NS “An appraisal of the legal and institutional framework for combating corruption in Nigeria” (2006) 13/1Journal of Financial Crime 92 at 93CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

48 Jones et al “Globalization and human trafficking”, above at note 4 at 113–14.

49 See UN Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) Trafficking of Nigerian Girls in Italy: The Data, the Stories, the Social Services (2010, UNICRI) at 31Google Scholar, where the annual number of Nigerian victims of trafficking in Italy is put at between 8,000 and 10,000; J Carling “Trafficking in women from Nigeria to Europe” (2005) Migration Information Source, available at: <http://www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?ID=318> (last accessed 4 September 2011).

50 Bowman and Kuenyehia Women and Law, above at note 28 at 423.

51 Ibid.

52 Ibid.

53 Gbadamosi International Perspectives, above at note 37 at 26.

54 Awe “From drug to human trafficking”, above at note 28 at 4.

55 Van Impe, K “People for sale: The need for a multidisciplinary approach towards human trafficking” (2000) 38/3International Migration 1CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed.

56 See above at note 24.

57 Eze, OC “African concept of human rights” in Kalu, AU and Osinbajo, Y (eds) Perspectives on Human Rights (1992, Federal Ministry of Justice) 8 at 15Google Scholar.

58 The Criminal Code which now applies in the southern states of Nigeria was first introduced into northern Nigeria in 1904 by the Lord Lugard administration and then extended to the whole country on 1 June 1916. The Penal Code applicable in the north came into effect on 30 September 1960. The latter was informed by the need for a distinct Sharia based criminal justice system to accord with the generally operative Islamic culture of the northern part of Nigeria. An historical account of the two codes is provided in Okonkwo, CO and Naish, MECriminal Law in Nigeria (2nd ed, 1980, Sweet & Maxwell) at 4–10Google Scholar.

59 This provision resulted from the international abolition of slave trade and was intended to deal with such practices that were still being carried on in some parts of the country, then a colony under British suzerainty.

60 It is significant that these provisions are retained in the Sharia penal codes now adopted by some states in northern Nigeria. See, for example, Zamfara State Sharia Penal Code Law No 10, 2000 and the Kano State Penal Code Law, 2000. For an analysis of the implementation of these codes, see Ostien, P (ed) Sharia Implementation in Northern Nigeria 1999–2006: A Sourcebook Vol IV (2007, Spectrum Books Limited) at 1–21Google Scholar.

61 For instance, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000 enacted by the Obasanjo regime largely replicates the Corrupt Practices Decree promulgated by the military government in 1975. This practice was even more pronounced during the country's various military regimes. See Owoade, MA “The military and the criminal law in Nigeria” (1989) 33/2Journal of African Law 135 at 148CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

62 No 24 of 2003. The act was amended in 2005 through the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Law Enforcement and Administration (Amendment) Act to increase the penalties for some offences under the Trafficking Act and make other sundry provisions.

63 Above at note 15.

64 The effective husbanding of these functions requires dynamism, single-minded commitment and sagacity on the part of the Agency's administrators. To enable the Agency to function effectively, the Trafficking Act through sec 8 (a–d) established four units: the Investigation Unit, Legal Unit, Public Enlightenment Unit, and the Counselling and Rehabilitation Unit. The Agency is also authorized under sec 8(e) to establish such other units as it may deem appropriate with the approval of the board.

65 This definition encompasses, in several respects, the circumstances prohibited in sec 369 of the Criminal Code.

66 This provision is similar in important respects to sec 275 of the Penal Code.

67 This makes the involvement of regional and sub-regional organizations such as the African Union and ECOWAS crucial in the fight against human trafficking.

68 See also sec 23 of the Trafficking Act. This shows the multi-dimensional aspect of the trade.

69 Id, sec 21.

70 Id, sec 36(a). This is in tandem with the provisions of art 6 of the Trafficking Protocol which requires states to provide assistance to and protection for victims of trafficking and ensure that their human rights in relation to privacy and confidentiality are observed.

71 Id, sec 36(f).

72 Id, sec 36(g).

73 Id, sec 36(j).

74 Id, sec 35(c).

75 Id, sec 35(a).

76 Above at note 62.

77 See “Nigeria: Human trafficking - NAPTIP rescues 4,000 victims, convicts 65” (1 December 2009) Leadership Newspaper, available at: <http://www.allafrica.com/stories/200912020147.html> (last accessed 12 April 2011).

78 Unreported suit no B/15C/2004; judgment delivered by the High Court of Justice, Benin City on 19 November 2004.

79 “Woman, 35, bags 15 yrs jail term for human trafficking” (15 January 2010) The Vanguard, available at: <http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/woman-35-bags-15-yrs-jail-term-for-human-trafficking.> (last accessed 11 April 2011).

80 Ibid.

81 Above at note 35. The raid carried out on 28 May 2011 at two supposed maternity homes, Cross Foundation, and Double Research Clinic and Laboratory, both in Aba, south eastern Nigeria, found and rescued 32 and 41 teenage expectant mothers who were kept in these places respectively, pending the delivery of their babies for the sale transactions to take place. The traffickers / operators of the “baby factories” are now facing prosecution.

82 See Department of State Trafficking in Persons Report (2011, Media and Public Affairs) at 279Google Scholar; “Nigeria commended on human trafficking” (27 June 2011) Nigerian Tribune at 1.

83 These include secs 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 21, 25 and 26.

84 No 26 of 2003. This enactment draws heavily on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child adopted in 1989.

85 There is however no doubt that such activities impact negatively on the country's image abroad.

86 While not ignoring retribution and deterrence as principles of criminal punishment, the pendulum has now swung in favour of the rehabilitation of offenders as a central goal of punishment: Easton, S and Piper, CSentencing and Punishment: The Quest for Justice (2005, Oxford University Press) at 290Google Scholar.

87 Child Rights Act, 2003, sec 28.

88 Id, sec 30.

89 Department of State Trafficking in Persons, above at note 10 at 256. Since 2010, several other states in the country have also enacted child rights laws.

90 One of the benefits of this agreement was the commissioning of a report by UNODC on possible measures to be adopted in combating human trafficking in Benin, Nigeria and Togo. In 2006, the UNODC also produced a training manual under its Assistance for the Implementation of the ECOWAS Plan of Action against Trafficking in Persons.

91 Declaration on the Fight against Trafficking in Persons, adopted at the 25th ordinary session of the Authority of Heads of State and Governments, Dakar, 20–21 December 2001. This is because the ECOWAS Protocol on Free Movement of Persons, Residence and Establishment (adopted on 29 May 1979) is often used as a shield for human trafficking.

92 See Declaration id, paras 12, 14, and 16.

93 The National Policy on Women was adopted in July 2000. The prevalence of prostitution, corruption and similar practices has been traced to the poor state of the economy and the collapse of corporate morality in the country: Achebe, CThe Trouble with Nigeria (1983, Fourth Dimension Publishers) at 46–55Google Scholar.

94 This programme was initiated by the late Marian Babangida, Nigeria's then first lady; it functioned between 1986 and 1993.

95 Initiated by Mariam Abacha, wife of the late General Sani Abacha; it functioned between 1993 and 1998.

96 This programme was initiated by the late Stella Obasanjo upon the assumption of office of her husband Chief Olusegun Obasanjo in May 1999; see “Child Care Trust launched” (21 November 1999) The Guardian at 8. It functioned until her death on 23 October 2005.

97 This is the brain-child of Titi Abubakar, the wife of the former vice president, and is specifically targeted at tackling female trafficking. The main direction of this programme is encapsulated in an address presented by Mrs Abubakar at a public forum on human trafficking held in Rivers State on 17 January 2001: Whyte The Abuse of the Nigerian Child, above at note 32 at 282–85.

98 This is a programme of Justice Mary Odili, now a justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria and wife of former Rivers State Governor Peter Odili. It must be observed that the wives of some current state governors also have similar programmes either targeted at women, adolescents or infants.

99 Smith, DJ “Corruption, NGOs, and development in Nigeria” (2010) 31/2Third World Quarterly 243 at 249CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed. Unsurprisingly, the programme began to be described with such strap-lines as “Better life for rich women” or “Better life for ruling women”: id at 250.

100 Thus even the justly criticized Better Life Programme was more visible and arguably more impactful than the Family Support Programme because of the different approaches adopted by their initiators.

101 Available at: <http://www.wotclef.org/activities.html> (last accessed 7 February 2011).

102 Ibid.

103 Jones et al “Globalization and human trafficking” above at note 4 at 112. The “push” and “pull” factors for human trafficking as they apply to the Republic of Benin, Nigeria and Togo are examined in UNODC Measures to Combat Trafficking, above at note 46 at 25–28.

104 Jones, ibid. See also Chuang, J “Beyond a snapshot: Preventing human trafficking in the global economy” (2006) 13 Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies 137 at 140–47CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

105 Id at 160–61. This will also be in tandem with art 9(4) of the Trafficking Protocol which specifically requires states to “take or strengthen measures, including through bilateral or multilateral cooperation, to alleviate the factors, such as poverty, underdevelopment and lack of equal opportunity” that make persons, especially women and children, vulnerable to trafficking.

106 Report to the General Assembly in accordance with Human Rights Council res 8/12: UN doc A/64/290, 12 August 2009 at 22.