Expanding the scope of ‘appropriate measures’: Do traditional institutions play a role in facilitating the protection of witnesses of trafficking in persons?

• Jurisdiction: South Africa
• Citation: (2019) 6(2) Journal of Comparative Law in Africa 80
• Pages: 80-105
• Author: Oyakhire, S.O.
• Date: 11 August 2020
• Published date: 11 August 2020

80

EXPANDING THE SCOPE OF ‘APPROPRIATE

MEASURES’: DO TRADITIONAL INSTITUTIONS

PLAY A ROLE IN FACILITATING THE

PROTECTION OF WITNESSES OF TRAFFICKING

IN PERSONS?*

Suzzie Onyeka Oyakhire†

Abstract

This paper studies the legal instruments designed to protect the victims and

witnesses of human trafficking, drawing on empirical studies of the effectiveness of

such measures. It argues that a combination of a statute-backed witness protection

scheme and the application of indigenous practices by traditional rulers is more

effective than statute alone to protect witnesses of human trafficking in Nigeria

particularly from psychological threats and intimidation. The paper highlights the

unsuccessful attempts by law enforcement authorities to investigate and prosecute

traffickers because of the unwillingness of victim-witnesses to testify against their

traffickers arising from the fear of repercussion from juju oaths administered to them

by juju priests in Nigeria aimed at instilling secrecy. Despite the existence of

conventional protective measures, victim-witnesses refuse to cooperate so as not to

incur the wrath of the oath. This paper illustrates further that conventional criminal

justice mechanisms are ill-suited to effectively curb this challenge, resulting in

traffickers evading criminal justice sanctions. The viability of the recent interventions

by the Oba of the Benin Kingdom to counter the effects of these oaths through a

proclamation placing curses on human traffickers and culpable juju priests, is thus

considered in this article as an alternative protective mechanism.

Keywords: victim-witnesses, witness protection, trafficking in persons,

traditional institutions, Nigeria

Résumé

Cet article étudie les instruments juridiques destinés à protéger les victimes et les

témoins de la traite des êtres humains, en s’appuyant sur des études empiriques de

l’efficacité de telles mesures. L’article allègue qu’une combinaison d’un système de

protection des témoins découlant de la loi et de l’application de pratiques indigènes

par les dirigeants traditionnels est plus efficace que la seule loi pour protéger les

témoins de la traite des êtres humains au Nigéria, en particulier contre les menaces

psychologiques et l’intimidation. L’article met l’accent sur les tentatives

* This article is a product of the Cardiff Law and Global Justice, Socio-Legal Journals Writing

Workshop, Accra, 2018. I thank the organisers, particularly Professor Diamond Ashiagbor whose

insightful suggestions assisted my reworking of this paper.

† LL.B, LL.M: Doctoral Candidate, Faculty of Law, UCT and Lecturer, Faculty of Law,

University of Benin, Benin City Nigeria.

(2019) 6(2) Journal of Comparative Law in Africa 80

© Juta and Company (Pty) Ltd

EXPANDING THE SCOPE OF ‘APPROPRIATE MEASURES’: DO TRADITIONAL

INSTITUTIONS PLAY A ROLE IN FACILITATING THE PROTECTION OF

WITNESSES OF TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS? 81

infructueuses des services répressifs d’enquêter sur les trafiquants et de les poursuivre

en raison de la réticence des victimes-témoins à témoigner contre leurs trafiquants,

en raison de la peur des représailles des serments mystico-religieux qui leur sont

administrés par des chefs religieux traditionnels (prêtres juju) au Nigéria, dans le

but de préserver le secret. Malgré l’existence de mesures de protection conventionnelles,

les témoins victimes refusent de coopérer afin de ne pas subir les représailles du

serment. Cet article montre en outre que les mécanismes de justice pénale classiques

sont mal adaptés pour lutter efficacement contre ce problème, ce qui a pour

conséquence que les trafiquants échappent aux sanctions pénales. La viabilité des

récentes interventions de l’Oba du Royaume du Bénin pour contrer les effets de ces

serments au moyen d’une proclamation maudissant les trafiquants d’êtres humains

et les chefs religieux traditionnels coupables est donc considérée dans cet article

comme un mécanisme de protection alternatif.

Mots-clés: victimes-témoins, protection des témoins, traite des êtres

humains, institutions traditionnelles, Nigéria

Introduction

This article examines the likelihood of utilising other means, such as

traditional institutions, in facilitating witness protection and thus

advancing the efforts of law enforcement in combating trafficking in

persons1 (human trafficking) globally and specifically in Nigeria. The

development of effective means of protecting victims and witnesses of

crimes such as human trafficking is an evolving area of law and practice

in Nigeria. Witness protection objectives in Nigeria require that victims

and witnesses of crime, cooperating with law enforcement authorities to

ensure that crime is investigated and prosecuted, are protected from acts

of intimidation, threats, and possible reprisal attacks.2 Generally, human

trafficking is recognised as a global challenge and just one of the criminal

means adopted by criminal networks to facilitate their crimes, particularly

1 Trafficking in persons means the ‘recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbour ing or receipt

of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud,

of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving

of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for

the purpose of exploitation: art 3(a) of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons,

Especially Women and Children, Supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational

Organised Crime (UNCTOC), General Assembly resolution 55/25 of 15 November 2000.

2 Article 24(1) of the UNCTOC states that ‘[e]ach State Party shall take appropriate measures

within its means to provide effective protection from retaliation or intimidation for witnesses in

criminal proceedings, who give testimony concerning offences covered by this Convention and, as

appropriate, for their relatives and other persons close to them.’ In addition, s 46 of the Trafficking in

Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration (NAPTIP) Act 2015 provides that ‘where a

person volunteers to the Agency or an official of the Agency any information which may be useful

in the investigation or prosecution of an offence under this Act, the Agency shall take all reasonable

measures to protect the identity of that person and the information so volunteered shall be treated

as confidential’.

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