ABSTRACT
Trafficking in persons is regarded as modern slavery The phenomenon in recent time has generated a lot of attention among local and international community. It has become a lucrative criminal enterprise for perpetrators and Nigeria has acquired a reputation for being one of the leading African countries in human trafficking with cross-border and internal trafficking.
This long essay aims to articulate the inhuman, degrading and exploitative effects of trafficking on victims especially as regards the dignity of the human person which the Nigeria Constitution guarantees. It is worthy of mention that some socio-economic factors contribute to the persistence of human trafficking in Nigeria. They include pervasive poverty, unemployment, greed, etc which result in forced labour, domestic servitude, sexual exploitation, and rituals. This long essay finds that Nigeria is a signatory to international and regional frameworks on trafficking in persons and the protection of the right to human dignity. It also finds that there are Federal and State legal frameworks prohibiting trafficking in persons in Nigeria. Hence, it examines the effectiveness of these legal frameworks.
There exists an array of literature on trafficking in persons. However, long essay has shown that most of the literature focuses on prosecuting and punishing trafficking offenders rather than the implication of trafficking on the human dignity of victims. This long essay, will establish the causal connection between human trafficking and human dignity especially as human dignity is a fundamental right guaranteed under the Nigerian constitution.
