BEVERLY HILLS, May 31, (THEWILL) – A Global Slavery Index 2016, released on Tuesday, has revealed that there are 875,500 people living in slavery in Nigeria.
According to the survey, Nigeria has more enslaved people than any country in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).
The survey, conducted in 167 countries across the world by Walk Free Foundation, an anti-modern slavery organisation, reveals that of the 45.8 million people living in slavery in the world, 13.6 percent (6,228,800) are in Africa.
The survey disclosed that slavery in Nigeria takes the form of forced labour in the domestic sector, and forced marriages which account for the second highest form of slavery in the country.
The Democratic Republic of Congo (873,100 people) and Ethiopia (411,600 people) have the second and third largest numbers of people living in slavery SSA, respectively.
Globally, North Korea is ranked as the country with the “greatest prevalence of modern slavery, with 4.37 percent of its population estimated to be enslaved.
However, in terms of absolute numbers, India has the highest with an estimated 18.35 million enslaved people, followed by China (3.39m), Pakistan (2.13m), Bangladesh (1.53m) and Uzbekistan (1.23m).
Combined, these five countries account for almost 58% of the world’s enslaved with a total number 26.6 million enslaved people.
Story by David Oputah
