830,000 Nigerians Are Slaves

monjola sotubo

November 23, 2014 5:57 PM

Nigeria has one of the highest rates in the world as the statistics show that one in every 200 residents is living in slavery.

According to the 2014 Global Slavery Index, 834,200 Nigerians are currently living in modern slavery.

One of the aggravating factors for Nigeria is its human trafficking problem. According to the index:

“Boys are trafficked for forced labour in street vending, domestic service, mining, stone quarrying, agriculture, begging and other hazardous labour in the West African sub-region.”

“Trafficking is also prevalent within Nigeria, with impoverished children, women and the disabled, trafficked into forced labour in the domestic sector, the sex industry, stone quarries, agricultural industries, and for forced begging and forced marriage.”

“Many victims, especially children are transported from rural to urban areas.”

Nigeria comes 6th in the top ten list of countries with the most modern slaves and is preceded by Russia, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, China and India and followed by the Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Thailand.

The Walk Free Foundation, the human rights organization which published the report, also estimates that 35.8 million people are enslaved worldwide.

monjola sotubo