“Some people never made it out alive”: Tackling endemic trafficking in North-West Nigeria

Sokoto, Nigeria (Minority Africa) — Auwal Muntari was filled with joy when three men approached his family, offering to enrol him in a secondary school in Niger Republic, which was located just across the border from his village in Illela, Sokoto state, Northwest Nigeria. It was 2017, and at the age of 17, Auwal had longed to attend a good secondary school ever since he completed primary school in 2013. Unfortunately, there were no operational secondary schools in his village, so the opportunity in Niger seemed promising. Being just a few kilometres away from his village, it felt like a viable option.

A few days later, Muntari, along with two other teenagers who had also been promised a quality education, embarked on a motorcycle journey through a bush path towards Niger. They were hopeful that the journey to the nearest town in the French-speaking country would only take a few hours, but to their surprise, it ended up taking approximately two days. Eventually, they arrived at a village where Muntari was allocated a room with seven other young men. 

“It was a very small room with a tiny window. I couldn’t sleep well without discomforting myself and the person next to me,” Muntari recalls.

Soon, Muntari realised that he had been trafficked. The promise of attending school turned out to be a deception, as he was instead coerced into washing motorcycles daily. If he failed to comply, he would be subjected to painful lashings with a cane on his back. 

“I couldn’t comprehend what was happening. I felt betrayed and extremely disappointed,” Muntari says. “Whenever I dared to ask about the education I was promised, I was brutally beaten, treated like an animal. The food we received was of appalling quality. We were served rice cooked with dirty water.” 

Muntari endured three months of gruelling labour under the watchful eyes of his traffickers. However, one day, he mustered the courage to inquire about the route back to Nigeria. With the help of sympathetic individuals whom he borrowed money from, he managed to escape and make his way back to Illela.

“When I returned, everyone was taken aback. They were relieved to see me after not hearing from me for so long. However, I spent most of my time indoors, crying over the harrowing experience I had gone through,” he says. 

A few weeks later, Muntari crossed paths with Aliyu Araba, an advocate against human trafficking in their community of Ilela. Araba introduced Muntari to a shelter operated by Save the Child Initiative (STCI), a non-profit organisation that offers assistance to victims of trafficking. During his three-day stay at the shelter, Muntari received counselling to help him cope with the trauma he had endured.

“I had to share my story with a staff member who genuinely cared to listen. He provided encouragement and emphasised that, despite all I had endured, I should not let my past define my future,” Muntari reminisces. “Their words instilled in me the belief that I could become a vocal advocate against trafficking within my local community.” 

Nigeria is known as a source, transit, and destination country for trafficked individuals. In 2017, the U.S. classified Nigeria as a “Tier 2 Watchlist” country. According to a report on The Guardian Nigeria, over 30 million Nigerians have been trafficked in the last decade.

The town of Ilela, located near porous borders, has unfortunately become a hotspot for trafficking. Traffickers take advantage of its strategic location to transport victims to North Africa and Europe for labour and sexual exploitation. They often target vulnerable individuals and those facing difficult circumstances. 

In September 2022, two suspects were nabbed in Sokoto for human trafficking. One of the suspects was in Illela making plans to traffic his victim to Libya. According to reports, over 22 victims of trafficking from Nigeria were rescued in Niger and reunited with their families in Sokoto but unlike Muntari, some are unlucky.

Abdulganiyu Abubakar, the founder of STCI in 2001, grew concerned about the government’s lack of action towards addressing trafficking in Illela. As a result, he decided to launch an anti-trafficking initiative in the community. The primary goal was to raise awareness about the dangers of trafficking, while also educating people on how to identify and report traffickers to the authorities.

Jamila Musa, another victim from Illela was enticed to go to Niger in search of a better job two years ago but ended up being exploited as cheap labour. Musa recalls her experience, saying, “My childhood friend tricked me into coming to Niger for a good job.” She later discovered that her childhood friend, who she didn’t name, was part of a trafficking syndicate in Niger. Musa explains, “She would invite young women promising them work, only to use them for hard labour without pay in her cooking business.”

After six months, Musa managed to collect money from customers she had befriended and escaped back to Sokoto. She later sought help at the shelter, where she received counselling. Now, Musa volunteers for STCI and actively campaigns against trafficking in her community. 

Abubakar, now the president of the Network against Child Trafficking, Abuse and Labour in Nigeria, says, “I realised a lot of children and young people are trafficked from Nigeria to North Africa and beyond where they’re exploited and Illela seems to be the transit point. This is an area without a significant government presence, and a lot of villagers do not understand how traffickers operate. Though some of them work hand in hand with traffickers.” 

Rabiu Gandi, the Head of Migration, Mobility, and Protection for STCI, stated that the initiative partners with different agencies and organisations in West Africa. The goal is to better understand how to address trafficking and repatriate victims to their families.

“We focus on both prevention and response to trafficking. We engage communities to raise awareness about human trafficking, and we collaborate with community and religious leaders to identify victims,” shares Gandi.

According to Gandi, the shelter can accommodate around 25 people at a time. When victims are received from communities or security agencies, they are placed in gender-specific sections for a maximum of two weeks. Initially, they are assessed to determine if any of them require immediate medical attention. They are then provided with food, clothing, and counselling to help them cope with any trauma they may have experienced. Eventually, they are reunited with their families. Victims who were trafficked from other countries are handed over to their respective embassies.

The efforts of the organisation are showing positive outcomes. Gandi shared that just a few months ago, residents of a village in Illela handed over a commercial motorcycle rider to the police for allegedly attempting to collaborate with traffickers, and he was subsequently charged in court. 

Gandi also mentioned that the non-profit has successfully rescued, accommodated, and supported no fewer than 3000 victims of trafficking.

Another survivor, Abubakar Hadi, who was once trafficked to Agadez in Niger two years ago, shares, “STCI helped us regain control of our lives and taught us how traffickers operate. I’m now passionate about having conversations with people about identifying traffickers and their deceptive tactics.”

The lack of adequate funds to run its operations, according to Gandi, remains one of the biggest challenges of STCI.

“As a non-profit, we depend on donors for funding, and when we don’t get funded it affects our work,’’ he says.

Changing the perception of community members to see human trafficking as a crime is a battle. Due to the scarcity of job opportunities in rural areas and the limited government presence, numerous unemployed individuals in border communities might be enticed to engage with criminal networks for financial gain. A clear manifestation of this is the surge in kidnappings within rural northern communities. However, Gandi firmly believes that transforming the mindset of villagers in border areas and motivating them to pursue legitimate avenues for earning a living would offer a sustainable solution to this problem.

“That is why we involve traditional rulers, religious clerics and even people we train as community champions to take the fight to their immediate surroundings,” Gandi says.

Deeply moved by his own journey, Muntari has now become a committed volunteer for the initiative. He is actively raising awareness within his community, educating others about the dangers of trafficking and encouraging them to take action against it. 

“To be trafficked against your will is to be treated like a slave. Some people never made it [out] alive,” said Muntari, who hopes that sooner or later the government will build schools and provide opportunities for individuals in rural communities so that they’ll no longer be vulnerable to the antics of traffickers who capitalise on their misfortunes.

“I really want trafficking to end. It is destroying lives,’’ he adds.

Edited/Reviewed by PK Cross, Caleb Okereke, and Uzoma Ihejirika.