Seventeenth Global Studies Conference

Abstract

The Palermo Conference of 2000 organised under the auspices of the United Nations (UN) charged the countries of the world to establish agencies with the sole responsibility of stamping out human trafficking globally. In response to that, the Nigerian government through a legislative act, responded by establishing an agency known as the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) on August 8, 2003. The Agency was charged with the responsibility of fighting both domestic and trans-border human trafficking in Nigeria. This paper interrogates the extent to which NAPTIP has been able to fight trans-border human trafficking since its establishment in 2003. The paper relies on data gathered from primary sources such as Key Informant Interview (KII) and secondary sources such as journal publications, books, newspapers/magazines, archives and internet materials among others. Atlas Ti 8 software was used to analyse data generated from KII. The study finds that funding, logistics, synergy with security agencies and lack of co-operation from some countries are the major challenges confronting NAPTIP in its fight against trans-border human trafficking in the country. Based on these findings, the paper concludes that trans-border human trafficking will continue to be a major threat in the country as long as poverty, which is a major push factor, is not urgently addressed. The paper recommends, among others, that the Government should tackle the problem of poverty squarely without delay.