HOW CULTURAL VALUES FACILITATE TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS IN EDO STATE, NIGERIA

Trafficking in Persons, a highly profitable, low risk organised crime, continues to thrive in various regions of the globe including Europe, the Gulf, Africa, and in Nigeria, its exceedingly lucrative in Edo State. The deeply rooted cultural system of the Edo people provide platforms for trafficking in persons activities. Cultural practices such as Omonosemhen (child fostering), Ogbomhandia (domestic helper), and Ogbeloghomon (child caregiver) historically served positive social purposes, including strengthening kinship ties, providing support for households, and ensuring communal responsibility. However, in contemporary times these cultural practices have been weaponised by traffickers, who exploit them to recruit and control vulnerable individuals for purposes of domestic servitude and sexual slavery. Employing the ethnographic research method, this study interrogates these cultural practices. Through interviews, focus group discussions, and questionnaires, qualitative data gathered from diverse participants and stakeholders, reveals that cultural practices are manipulated and distorted by traffickers. They are used as mechanisms of control that compels compliance and sustains trafficking networks. The study concludes that although these practices retain social value, their exploitation underscores the urgent need to address the cultural dynamics facilitating trafficking. Incorporating cultural awareness into anti-trafficking strategies is therefore vital for dismantling manipulation and safeguarding vulnerable populations.