Child Trafficking is a widely spread phenomenon in Nigeria. Globally, child trafficking is one of the fastest growing organied crimes with an estimate of 1.2million victims per year, of which 32% are Africans.
Child trafficking which we know as the recruitment, transportation, habouring or receipt of persons by means of threat, or the use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, for the purpose of exploitation.
The Assessment of Child Trafficking in the Southern Nigerian State(2004) reported that 46%of external trafficking, are children with a female to male ratio of 7:3. Most females, are being trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation, entertainment, slavery and all forms of forced labor. Most of these females, end up becoming sex slave, to their masters while some may end up being used in one baby factory, where they are impregnated by unknown men and their babies are sold for money, some also become drug hawkers for drug dealers, while some too end up working in a bar or an entertainment center as sought of pleasure sight and object for sexual molestation by men who visit such places and some become ponographic workers. Furthermore the boys, who are trafficked also end up becoming slaves to perform all forms of forced and unpaid labor like, working in big plantations.
It has however, widely being shown that females are at higher risk of being trafficked for money. Many of them are being trafficked to countries like, UK, Italy, neither lands, USA, Belgium, Ireland, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, etc.
Some of the causes of child trafficking which include; wide spread of poverty, large family size, rapid urbanization with deteriorating public service, low literary levels and high- school drop out rates. Parents with large families, oftenoverburdened with the responsibility of taking care of their children, end up accepting to send themplaces in the city, with the hope of giving them a better future.
These parents, who are uninformed and so end up accepting, to give out their children to these traffickers for little or no amount. Some of them often times, are made to believe that their children would be well taken care of and sent toschool at the same time and so end up accepting to their terms. Most of these parents, who are at times illerate and so are prone to being deceived by these traffickers. Also the poor economic state of the country, which has also contributed to the rise of this criminal activity, most children and young adolescent are not given the opportunity to go to school due to the fact that their parents can't afford to sponsor them and so are easily deceived by these traffickers, by promising them to give them a good job at times, or access to proper education at a foreign country. These children who haven't had access to education like their peers, are easily being deceived by them with promises for a better future which they never experience.
Also the poor educational system of the country,which end up producing drop-out and illerate children who one way or the other, where not able to go to school and so due to this fact are prone to easily being deceived. Most of these children who later die, become mentally unstable, due to the pain they had passed through at such tender age and the psychological and emotional trauma attached to it, most of them too contact all forms of sexually transmitted infections like; HIV/AIDs, some too become drug addicts in the long run while some lucky ones may actually be rescued, but this however happens on rare occasions. The increasing rate of child trafficking, which is also as a result of the demand for cheap sexual pleasure.
Conclusion
The solution to this criminal activity which can be in the use of Anti-child trafficking organizations to help eradicate this activities. In addition, the education of those who are illiterate in the society on the existence of these menance in the society, and the government should see to it that children are being provided with quality education, to reduce the illiteracy level in the society.
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