ABUJA, NIGERIA- Nigeria’s anti-trafficking agency, NAPTIP, has released its 2019 Report, highlighting its efforts in 2019 to combat human trafficking in all its forms in Nigeria.
Highlights include the following:
- NAPTIP received a total of 915 cases in 2019, fully investigating only 203 (slightly down from 206 in 2018) and making 701 arrests (also down from 823 in 2018). (Although the 2019 Report did not indicate the total number of reported cases in 2019, the foregoing total was deduced from the total number of reported cases from inception to date.)
- Of the 203 investigated cases, 22.7% (46 cases) related to the crime of foreign travel for prostitution, representing the largest category of reported cases. The second largest category of reported cases, 17.7% (36 cases) related to child abuse. 59 of the 203 investigated cases related to external trafficking (29.1%).
- Of the 701 arrests made, 20.8% (146) of them related to foreign travel which promotes prostitution offenses (91 men and 55 women).
- The 2019 Report is devoid of the total number of prosecutions embarked upon in 2019. However, NAPTIP reports a total of 18 convictions (down considerably from 50 convictions in 2018) in 2019, with a total of 25 convicted persons (14 men and 11 women).
- 38.9% of all convictions related to the procurement of persons for sexual exploitation, with 22.2% of convictions relating to foreign travel which promotes prostitution.
- A total of 1,152 victims of trafficking (down from 1,173 in 2018) were rescued by varying agencies in 2019. Of the total rescued victims, 357 were rescued by NAPTIP (31%), 227 by Nigerian Immigration Service (19.7%) and 112 by International Organisation for Migration (9.7%). 80% of all rescued victims were women and girls, with children making up 49.8% of all rescued victims in 2019 (about the same as 2018). A total of 212 women victims (18.4%) were rescued after being procured for foreign travel which promotes prostitution. 41.8% of rescued victims were rescued after external trafficking. 136 child abuse victims were rescued.
- The largest category of rescued victims (99 victims) (down from 143 in 2018) continue to be from Edo State (9.2.%), followed by Imo (88 victims or 8.2%) and Delta (76 or 7.1%). (In 2018, the largest number of victims were from Edo, Kano and Benue.)
- Of the 211 (down from 239) victims rescued outside Nigeria, most (87) were rescued from Mali, followed by Niger (51), Cote d’Ivoire (16) before Libya (14) (which was the highest in 2018 with 101 rescued victims).
- 74 foreign nationals were rescued from trafficking in Nigeria, with the highest numbers from Benin Republic (38 or 51.4%) and Ghana (12 or 16.2%).
- The 2019 Report notes that from inception of the Agency (2003) to date, NAPTIP has received a total of 7,487 cases, investigated 3,935 of them, rescued a total of 14,688 victims, secured 332 convictions and convicted 413 perpetrators.
To review the full report, click here.