Niger State
Niger or Niger State is a state in Central Nigeria and the largest state in the country. The state capital is Minna, and other major cities are Bida, Kontagora, and Suleja. It was formed in 1976 when the then North-Western State was bifurcated into Niger State and Sokoto State. It is home to Ibrahim Babangida and Abdulsalami Abubakar, two of Nigeria's former military rulers. The Nupe, Gbagyi, Kamuku, Kambari, Dukawa, Hausa and Koro form the majority of numerous indigenous tribes of Niger State.
Slavery in Niger
Although the Constitution of Niger declares all people equal, there was no law specifically against slavery or any criminal offense for enslaving another human in Niger until 5 May 2003. The French directives of 1905 and 1920, which were part of the Nigerien legal corpus after independence, pertained solely to the slave trade and did not stop domestic servitude or hereditary slavery. In 2003, the new law was passed which did criminalize slavery with a maximum prison sentence of up to 30 years. The law though does include systems of mediation between slaves and masters as a necessary first step in the process.
With this legislation, Niger was the first country in West Africa to pass a law specifically pertaining to slavery and creating a criminal penalty for the offense.