Stories from UNODC Nigeria

International Migrants Day 2020: the role of data in the fight against trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants

Abuja, 18 December 2020 - On the International Migrants Day 2020, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reiterates the importance of comprehensive, reliable and up-to-date data for evidence-based and efficient criminal justice and crime prevention strategies against trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants in Nigeria. Efficient data collection and analysis permits to better understand the current trends and patterns of these crimes including the major forms of exploitation, trafficking and smuggling flows,  modus operandi  of traffickers and smugglers while also providing crucial information on the profiles of the victims and/or perpetrators involved (gender, age, educational background etc.).[Read More]

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UNODC Helps Train Defence Lawyers to Become Human Rights Defenders

Abuja, 10 December 2020 - As we celebrate International Human Rights Day, we are also reminded of the work that human rights defenders do to ensure the rights of the most vulnerable are protected, and this includes the rights of those who find themselves within the criminal justice system.

Defence lawyers play a vital and irreplaceable role in the promotion and protection of human rights.  The right to fair trial is fundamental to any democratic society, without the full enjoyment of this right the rule of law itself is meaningless, and without dedicated public defenders fully committed to the defence of their clients it is unattainable.

In January of this year, UNODC supported the deployment of 31 Legal Aid Council of Nigeria (LACON) defence lawyers to the Joint Investigation Centre (JIC) detention facility in Maiduguri to conduct pre-trial interviews of terrorism suspects and to ensure their constitutional right to a fair trial. This resulted in LACON being granted access to 314 detainees.[Read More]

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Op-ed: Are Women Less Corrupt Than Men ?

9 December 2020 (International Anti-Corruption Day) -  Since the publication of the second corruption in Nigeria survey conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in December 2019, hardly any other question raised by the data was debated more passionately.

While, at that time, the findings seemed to suggest that women were significantly less likely than men to be requested for a bribe and to give in to such a request, it remained unclear whether these differences were simply yet another expression of gender inequalities characterizing Nigeria's economic, social and political realities, or if there was more to it.[Read More]

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