A woman in Nigeria was arrested by anti-human trafficking unit for selling her newborn baby.
According to media reports, the woman worked as a prostitute and already had two children who were being taken care of by her mother. Due to the inability of take care of another child, the woman made arraignments with a local broker to find another woman who could buy the child.
The broker found a childless woman who paid $2650 (430,000 Nigerian Naira) for the newborn baby. The broker then paid the baby’s mother $925.
Buying babies from pregnant women is a growing black market in Nigeria.
(See more human trafficking victims and the prices sold to traffickers.)
Source: “22-year-old mother sells own baby for N.4million,” The Sun (Nigeria), May 25, 2014.
Oil company Royal Dutch Shell reported that its earnings for 2013 was almost $1 Billion lower due to oil theft and other acts of sabotage that occurs in Nigeria.
Shell’s Chief Financial Officer stated that nearly $1 Billion worth of oil is stolen from the oil industry each month across Nigeria. In 2011, the Nigerian government lost an estimated $7 Billion in tax revenue due to oil theft. The amount of tax revenue lost was roughly equal to 25 percent of the Nigeria’s national budget for 2013.
Source: Eduard Gismatullin, “Seplat Sees No Oil Theft in Nigeria, Where Shell Lost $1 Billion,” Bloomberg Businessweek, March 14, 2014.
In an article in Bloomberg Businessweek, a team of oil thieves stated that they are able to make up to $6,098 (1 Million Nigerian Naira) a day from stealing oil from pipelines.
The thieves steal oil from pipeline managed and operated by multinational oil companies such as Royal Dutch Shell. The oil thieves cut through the pipelines with saws and siphon the oil into barrerls. The oil is then brought to illegal refiners located across Nigeria.
The refining process at these illegal refiners takes about six hours. The crude oil is boiled in a drum, cooled by water, and then stored in another container. The oil is then filtered into gasoline, kerosene and diesel. Any left over unfiltered oil is simply tossed into the water.
An average sized illegal refinery in the Nigerian Delta can make over $1 Million a month refining stolen oil.
Source: Alexis Okeowo, “Oil Thieves of the Niger Delta,” Bloomberg Businessweek, February 20, 2014.
Security services in Nigeria seized a shipping container in December 2013 that contained over 40,000 pirated books that were on its way to be sold within the country.
The 1X20 foot container contained 1,336 cartons filled with pirated copies of books. In total, Customs officials stated that 40,080 copies of pirated books with a retail value of $125,129 (20,040,000 Nigerian Naira) were seized.
The pirated books included popular American titles and language dictionaries.
Source: Mos Abaka, “NCC confiscates 40,080 copies of pirated books,” WorldStage News, January 23, 2014.
The Nigerian Navy reported destroying 1,556 illegal oil refineries that were selling oil on the black market in Nigeria during its 2013 fiscal year.
Along with the illegal production sites, security services in Nigeria also apprehended 1,646 people for oil smuggling activities.
In 2013, it was estimated that up to 100,000 barrels of oil was being stolen from refineries each day in Nigeria.
Source: “Navy Destroys 1,556 Illegal Oil Refineries, Arrests 1646 Suspect in 2013,” ThisDay Live, December 23, 2013.
Between 2009 and 2012, security services in India arrested 820 foreign nationals for drug trafficking crimes. Nearly 80 percent of those arrested came from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Nepal and Nigeria.
In the four year time period, data from criminal justice programs shows that 224 Nepalis were arrested for drug trafficking in India, followed by 191 Nigerians, 173 people from Myanmar and 32 people from Afghanistan.
The top drugs trafficked by the foreign nationals included marijuana and hashish, followed by heroin and cocaine.
Source: Chethan Kumar, “Papa Joes thrive despite tough measures against drug cartels,” Times of India, December 20, 2013.
Risk consultancy firm Control Risks released their Risk Map 2014, which highlights the areas of potential threats in 2014.
In the report, the company highlighted the countries in 2013 that had the most incidents of kidnapping for ransom during the year.
The top 5 countries where kidnapping for ransom took place are as follows:
1. Mexico
2. India
3. Nigeria
4. Pakistan
5. Venezuela
The Asia Pacific region had the most reported incidents, with 35 percent of all global kidnappings reported.
Source: Steven Perlberg, “The 20 Countries Where People Get Kidnapped The Most,” Business Insider, December 12, 2013.
Full Report: “Risk Map 2014,” Control Risks.
Criminal justice programs and social services in Nigeria have seen a rise of baby factories in the country where women bear babies that are sold to couples. Women between the ages of 14 to 25 are kept in buildings primarily in the south east region of the country. In the buildings, the women are either forced or convinced to get pregnant and to sell the baby for a fee.
According to one woman who was kept in a factory, she was promised $378 (60,000 Nigerian Naira) is she was to produce a boy, and $189 (30,000 Naira) is she conceived a girl.
It was previously reported that these brokers would then sell the babies to couples for $1,500.
Source: Millie Ibe, “Nigeria: Dismantling the Booming Babymaking Factories,” AllAfrica, November 28, 2013.
According to Nigeria’s Ambassador to Russia, at least 200 Nigerian girls trafficking to Russia each month and forced to work in the prostitution industry.
(More human trafficking statistics.)
Source: “Nigeria: Monthly 200 Nigerian Girls Are Trafficked to Russia for Prostitution – Envoy,” All Africa, November 21, 2013.
According to Nigeria’s Ambassador to Russia, at least 200 Nigerian girls trafficking to Russia each month and forced to work in the prostitution industry.
(More human trafficking statistics.)
Source: “Nigeria: Monthly 200 Nigerian Girls Are Trafficked to Russia for Prostitution – Envoy,” All Africa, November 21, 2013.
