Global Journal of Human-Social Science, A: Arts and Humanities, Volume 22 Issue 4

straight news. This is followed by opinion articles with 9%. This could mean that some readers were able to send their opinions to the papers following the activities of the menace as they unfold during the period understudy. The findings, further showed that the three dailies- Vanguard, the Guardian and the Nigerian Observer have no entry of human trafficking stories in their editorial page. This was not expected as editorial give readers the stand of the newspaper house on the issue, given the fact that human trafficking as an issue has drawn the attention of local, national and international communities. A study by Aja (2010) cited in Okoro et al (2015) showed that factors like editorial idiosyncrasy, ownership and house style might be responsible for determining the pattern of newspaper coverage. Research Question Four: What is the dominant form of human trafficking reported in the selected newspapers? The analysis of the data responding to this research question showed that child trafficking with 41% is the dominant form of human trafficking stories reported by the three dailies (See table 5). With this result, it could mean that Nigerians are in the habit of trafficking children since they are defenseless and inevitably depend on their immediate human and material environment to cater for their numerous needs or that the phenomenon of baby factory might have promoted child trafficking by creating room for exploiting young girls with undesirable conception. Makinde et al (2015) in Salihu and Chutiyami (2016, p. 33) define baby factories as building, hospitals or orphanages to places for young girls and women to give birth to children for sale in the black market, often to infertile couples, or into trafficking rings". This form of abuse operates in a shadow simply because of the stigma attached to undesirable conception by teenagers, and poor economic status which poses them to offer themselves for little financial gain. Nkememena (2009) in her study, stated that the continuation of such abuses and exploitations would seriously undermine the developmental capacity of children, thereby mortgaging the future of the entire nation. VII. C onclusion The media are known to be socially responsible in reporting news event of national importance. They are expected to inform both the public and government, by creating a particular view in the minds of the people in terms of educating, sensitizing and mobilizing them for actions against human trafficking. Though the media have lived up to expectation in setting the agenda for public discourse by serving as a source of information but findings from this study have demonstrated that media reports to a very low extent have been able to publicize the activities of human trafficking which is evident in their infrequent reporting, placement of reports and rare use of editorial in their patterns of reporting. Furthermore, human trafficking stories were mostly presented in news format which by implication, prevents a more comprehensive human trafficking news reporting as well as drawing conclusions from more varied, nuanced sources and viewpoints (Sanford et al., 2016). This situation might hinder members of the society from having expanded knowledge and understanding on salient and more complex issues surrounding human trafficking. VIII. R ecommendations As a result of the outcome of the present study and related issues raised it was recommended that: 1) The press should draw more attention to the dangers of human trafficking by increasing the level of their reports on the issue. This will help in creating more awareness about human trafficking related risks and also in monitoring human trafficking trends in the country. 2) The media should undertake an in-depth investigative reporting of human trafficking in order to discover more balanced, broader and nuanced perspectives that could help in the understanding of the problem. The press at all levels should also explore more of the news genres, forms and accord more prominence to human trafficking stories. 3) Greater efforts should be made by the government agencies, non-governmental organization and the media to undertake massive campaign to enlighten the populace that there are no greener pasture to collect on the streets on the developed countries. This would help dissuade them from becoming victims of trafficking as a result of false impression. 4) The government should ensure effectively implementation of all of the ratified international laws and regulations, in particular the Palemo protocol (2000), the UNCRC, the ILO Convention No. 182 and the CEDAW, in order to provide an environment conducive to the elimination of human trafficking in Nigeria and the focus must be on all forms of trafficking. Considering the fact that any law without enforcement is bound to fail. 5) The security agencies, particularly those along the borders, like the Nigerian immigration Services and the Nigerian Customs Service, should be trained in the area of tracking down syndicates involved in the heinous crime. The Nigerian Police will also have a role to play in detecting perpetrators of the crime (Olube, 2015). R eferences R éférences R eferencias 1. Adepelumi, P. (2015). The root causes of human trafficking in Nigeria. African Center for Advocacy & Human Development , 27 (3), 1-7. Volume XXII Issue IV Version I 56 ( ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2022 © 2022 Global Journals A A Content Analysis of Newspapers’ Coverage of Human Trafficking in Nigeria the most used genre in reporting crime issues were