PREVENTION
The Government of Niger maintained robust efforts to prevent human trafficking. The CNCLTP continued to serve as the coordinating body for the government’s anti-trafficking efforts, and the ANLTP was the government’s permanent implementing body to address trafficking in persons.The government adopted a national action plan, which was developed with inter-ministerial cooperation and in partnership with civil society organizations. Senior officials recognized publicly the problem of human trafficking and Niger’s policies to combat it at the opening of several anti- trafficking information and education campaigns during the reporting period. In June 2014, the government partnered with a local NGO to host an awareness-raising event in recognition of the West African Day for the Fight Against Slavery. In August and September 2014, the government organized a series of events, including conferences, radio and television talk shows, advocacy sessions, and cultural events to educate the government officials and members of the public on trafficking. Another conference was held on the practice of wahaya, or “fifth wife,” where panelists discussed forced labor and sexual exploitation of women in the context of wahaya.The government did not punish labor recruiters or brokers in the recruitment of workers through knowingly fraudulent offers of employment or job placement.The government took no discernible measures to address the demand for forced labor or commercial sex acts. Bylaws governing Niger’s armed forces require troops to receive anti-trafficking training prior to their deployment abroad on international peacekeeping missions, though there is no evidence the government implemented such training during the reporting period. The government did not provide anti-trafficking training or guidance for its diplomatic personnel.

NIGERIA:  Tier 2 
Nigeria is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. Nigerian trafficking victims are recruited from rural and, to a lesser extent, urban areas: women and girls for domestic servitude and sex trafficking and boys for forced labor in street vending, domestic service, mining, stone quarrying, agriculture, textiles manufacturing, and begging. Young boys in Koranic schools, commonly known as Almajiri children, are subjected to forced begging. Nigerian women and children are taken from Nigeria to other West and Central African countries, as well as to South Africa, where they are exploited for the same purposes. Nigerian women and girls are subjected to forced prostitution throughout Europe. Nigerian women and children are also recruited and transported to destinations in North Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia, where they are held captive in the sex trade or in forced labor. Nigerian gangs subject large numbers of Nigerian women to forced prostitution in the Czech Republic and Italy; EUROPOL has identified Nigerian organized crime related to trafficking in persons as one of the greatest law enforcement challenges to

European governments. Nigerian women are transported to Malaysia, where they are forced into prostitution and to work as drug mules for their traffickers. West African women transit Nigeria to destinations in Europe and the Middle East, where they are subsequently subjected to forced prostitution. Children from West African countries are subjected to forced labor in Nigeria, including in Nigeria’s granite mines. Nigeria is a transit point for West African children subjected to forced labor in Cameroon and Gabon. During the reporting period, an NGO alleged Nigerian officials subjected children in internally displaced person (IDP) camps in northeast Nigeria to labor and sex trafficking.A Nigerian soldier also allegedly engaged in the forced labor of a child.
During the reporting period, media and international observers reported the terrorist organization Boko Haram forcefully recruited and used child soldiers as young as 12-years-old and abducted women and girls in the northern region of Nigeria, some of whom it later subjected to domestic servitude, forced labor, and sex slavery through forced marriages to its militants. An NGO also reported a civilian vigilante group, identified as the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), recruited and used child soldiers, sometimes by force.The government prohibited the recruitment and use of child soldiers and issued official statements condemning such use; however, the CJTF continued to recruit and use child soldiers during the reporting period.The Borno State government continued to provide financial and in-kind resources to the CJTF, which was also, at times, aligned with the Nigerian military in operations against Boko Haram.
The Government of Nigeria does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. During the reporting period, the government sustained strong anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts by enacting amendments to the 2003 anti-trafficking law, which restrict the ability of judges to penalize offenders with fines in lieu of prison time; by investigating, prosecuting, and convicting numerous traffickers; and by providing extensive specialized anti- trafficking training to officials from various government ministries and agencies.The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and Other Related Matters (NAPTIP) identified and provided services to an increased number of victims and continued extensive awareness campaigns throughout the country. The government also created an inter-ministerial presidential taskforce to coordinate anti-trafficking activities across the government. Despite these efforts, during the reporting period, the Borno State government provided financial and in-kind resources to the CJTF, which recruited and used child soldiers.

RECOMMENDATIONS  FOR  NIGERIA:
Cease provision of financial and in-kind support to the CJTF until the group ceases the recruitment and use of children; investigate and prosecute all individuals suspected of recruiting and using child soldiers and allegedly perpetrating other trafficking abuses against women and children; continue to vigorously pursue

trafficking investigations, prosecutions of trafficking offenses, and adequate sentences for convicted traffickers; take proactive measures to investigate and prosecute government officials suspected of trafficking-related corruption and complicity in trafficking offenses; ensure the activities of NAPTIP receive sufficient funding, particularly for prosecuting trafficking offenders and providing adequate care for victims; implement programs for the disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration of former child combatants that take into account the specific needs of child ex-combatants; continue to provide regular training to police and immigration officials to identify trafficking victims among vulnerable populations, such as women in prostitution and young females traveling with non-family members; fully integrate anti-trafficking responsibilities into the work of the Nigerian Police Force and the Ministry of Labor; and continue to increase the capacity of Nigerian embassies to identify and provide assistance to victims abroad, including through regular and specialized training for diplomatic and consular personnel.