Echoes of slavery as Nigeria marks national human trafficking awareness day

Byke Freeborn l Friday, Jan. 11, 2019

LAGOS, Nigeria – In 2007,  the Senate of the United States designated January 11 as National Human Trafficking Awareness day. Consequently, today, 11th January, we commemorate National Human trafficking awareness day in Nigeria.

Some economic and development theorists have asserted that the world has become increasingly unequal by socio-political problems, economic/geographical issues, technology, lack of personal development and illiteracy among others.

Africa is increasingly unequal and cannot match development in the West due to some or all of the factors mentioned above.

Slavery is unarguably the earliest form of human trafficking. The major reason for slavery was economic exploitation. A moderm day observer will say slave trade ended in 1865 when the 13th Amendment was passed in the USA. This is far from the truth, today, humans are still sold and bought against their will, the format has become even more sophisticated and difficult to spot.

Earliest form of human trafficking was recorded in the 1400’s, it started in the form of European slave trade in Africa. The  Portuguese kidnapped or captured Africans and transported them to Portugal, then sold them off as slaves to work in plantations. In 1952, Britain joined the trade.  Other countries which got involved in the slave trade were Spain, Denmark, Sweden, North America, among many others.

However, the European slave trade may not have been very successful without indulgence from local African leaders.  European ship captains offered gifts and paid taxes for right to trade. Trade by barter was initiated, captains offered various goods like alcohol, beads, firearms, textiles etc to local African leaders in exchange for human cargoes(slaves).

‘White Slavery’ was the legal term given to Human trafficking for sexual purposes. It simply means ‘obtaining a white woman or girl- by the use of force, drugs, or by dishonest means for sex.

Human trafficking is the new slavery. Humans are traded for the purpose of forced labour, commercial sex/exploitation and/or other forms of monetary or economic exploitation.Forced marriage in its context, is also a form of human trafficking. Nigeria is familiar with news of children below 18 years forced into marriage.

In Nigeria, there are syndicates that ‘supply’ young unsuspecting children for labour at a price. We are told they have a transfer system that can move a trafficked child from one ‘master’ to another.

In the words of a victim, Tony 16, [Not real Name] said, ‘ I left my parents before I barely knew them, since then, I have ‘worked’ for several families in the city, the man who took me from my village is my relative, he told my family he was taking us to live with him in the city, later in years, I discovered he collects money from people and provides them a person to work for them’.

The local syndicates trafficks Nigerian women and children, recruited from rural areas. The females are usually for involuntary domestic servitude, sexual exploitation while the males are for forced labor, domestic servitude and sometimes used for begging.

According to a source, human trafficking is the 3rd ‘largest international crime industry (behind illegal drugs and arms trafficking). It reportedly generates a profit of $32 billion every year’. About 50% of that number, is made in industrialised countries.


Human trafficking is a crime against the person because the victim’s rights to freedom is violated for commercial exploitation. To report suspected trafficking, see Anti-Slavery International, Devatop Centre for Africa Development

Byke Freeborn is an entrepreneur, volunteer and a humanitarian worker.