Edo State, in the sprawling poverty-ravaged South-South region of Nigeria, is the epicentre of this mass exodus for ‘greener pasture’ and better life.
Pressure on local, national and international actors to stem irregular migration and clamp down on trafficking has intensified in recent years. The improvement of technological safeguards led to the increased use of overland routes through the Sahara Desert, initially via Morocco, then Libya after the 2011 overthrow of Gaddafi.
But the number of convictions is a drop in the ocean, and Chatham House research indicates that most communities still perceive human smuggling and trafficking in a good light. Interviews carried out in Edo indicate that smugglers and traffickers shape and reinforce local attitudes to migration, seeking recruits by citing wealthy returnees and mocking the poverty and lack of employment of targets.