Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2001, published 90th ILC session (2002)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Nigeria (Ratification: 1960)

The Committee notes with regret that no report has been received from the Government. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the following matters raised in its previous direct request:

Article 1(1) and Article 2(1) of the Convention. 1. The Committee requested information as to the freedom of certain persons to leave the service of the State. It noted the restrictions on such freedom which might be imposed on: (i) police officers, under sections 11(A), 13(1A), 13(9), 51(2) and 52 of the Police Act; (ii) navy personnel, under section 9(3) of the Navy Act and section 20(3) of Act No. 21 of 1964 (Navy); and (iii) army personnel, under sections 13 and 25 of the Nigerian Army Act of 1960. The Committee again refers to the explanations in paragraphs 67-73 of its 1979 General Survey on the abolition of forced labour, as to the essentially voluntary nature of employment which is to be in compliance with the Convention, subject only to the limited exceptions allowed under Article 2(2). It again requests the Government to provide copies of any regulations dealing with the manner in which the above provisions are applied and to indicate in detail how they are applied in practice, including numbers and circumstances of applications to leave the service allowed or refused.

Article 2(2)(c). 2. The Committee asked the Government to indicate the conditions in which prison labour takes place, particularly as regards hiring prison labour to or placing it at the disposal of private parties. Please provide a copy of the current prison regulations as well as information on the practical aspects of this question.

3. Referring to the general observation on the Convention made in its report to the 87th Session of the ILC (1999), the Committee requests the Government to include in its next report information as to the present position in law and practice as regards:

(i)  whether there are prisons administered by private concerns, profit-making or otherwise;

(ii)  whether any private prison contractors deploy prisoners to work either inside or outside prison premises, either for the account of the contractor or for that of another enterprise;

(iii)  whether private parties are admitted by the prison authorities into prison premises of any kind for the purpose of engaging prisoners in employment;

(iv)  whether employment of prisoners outside prison premises, either for a public authority or for a private enterprise, is allowed;

(v)  the conditions in which employment under any of the above conditions takes place, in respect of remuneration (indicating the level and comparing it with minimum wage normally applicable to such work), benefits accruing (such as pension rights and workers’ compensation), observance of occupational safety and health legislation and other conditions of employment (e.g. through labour inspection), and how those conditions are determined;

(vi)  what the source of any remuneration is (whether from public or private funds) and for what purposes it must or may be applied (e.g. for the personal use of the prisoner or if it is subject to compulsory deductions);

(vii)  for whose benefit is the product of prisoners’ work and any surplus profit deriving from it, after deduction of overheads, and how it is disbursed;

(viii)  how the consent of the prisoners concerned is guaranteed, so that it is free from the menace of any penalty, including any loss of privileges or other disadvantages following from a refusal to work.