DRIVERS OF IRREGULAR MIGRATION AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN NIGERIA

This study examines the drivers, mechanisms, and impacts of irregular migration and human trafficking in Nigeria, with the aim of informing effective prevention strategies and policy interventions. The study is anchored on Migration Systems Theory, which explains migration as a dynamic process sustained by economic inequalities, social networks, institutional linkages, and intermediary actors across origin, transit, and destination areas. Adopting a qualitative research design, the study relies exclusively on secondary data from peer reviewed journals, books, government documents, and institutional reports. Data were analyzed thematically to identify recurring patterns related to socio economic conditions, cultural norms, governance structures, migration networks, and trafficking practices. Findings reveal that irregular migration and human trafficking in Nigeria are primarily driven by chronic poverty, youth unemployment, limited access to education, and cultural expectations of migration success, gender inequality, weak law enforcement, corruption, and inadequate border management. The study further shows that migrants become vulnerable through deceptive recruitment, dependence on intermediaries, debt bondage, irregular legal status, social isolation, and exposure to violence along domestic and international migration routes. The effects of these processes are severe, including physical and psychological trauma, economic exploitation, family disintegration, community destabilization, and the entrenchment of transnational criminal networks. The study concludes that irregular migration and human trafficking are systemic problems rooted in structural and institutional failures. It recommends socio economic reforms, strengthened governance and enforcement, awareness campaigns, and victim centered reintegration policies.