Islamic Law and Human Trafficking: Implications for Prevention and Prosecution in North East Nigeria

Human trafficking is a severe crime that Islamic law unequivocally prohibits under the doctrines of prohibition on enslavement of free persons, protection of human dignity (Karama), and the obligation to prevent Fasad (corruption). In North East Nigeria, where conflict, poverty, and displacement create vulnerability to trafficking, the Islamic legal framework offers a normative basis for prevention, prosecution, and victim support that complements secular anti-trafficking law. This study examines Islamic legal provisions relevant to human trafficking and their professional application to prevention and prosecution efforts in North East Nigeria. A professional legal analysis methodology is applied, reviewing classical and contemporary Islamic jurisprudence on slavery prohibition, coercion, and exploitation, alongside the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition, Law Enforcement and Administration) Act 2015 and NAPTIP operational reports from Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa States. Interviews with fifteen Islamic scholars, ten NAPTIP officials, and eight community leaders supplement the documentary analysis. The study evaluates Islamic legal arguments for anti-trafficking enforcement, the role of Islamic institutions in victim rehabilitation, and the intersection between trafficking and customary child marriage or domestic servitude practices rationalised through religious framing. Available interdisciplinary literature on trafficking in North East Nigeria identifies religious rationalisation of trafficking through false scholarship as a specific prosecution challenge. Recommendations address Islamic scholar engagement with anti-trafficking prosecution, community Islamic education on trafficking prohibitions, and NAPTIP-Islamic institution cooperation frameworks. Keywords: human trafficking, Islamic law, North East Nigeria, NAPTIP, Karama.