The United States has faulted Nigeria over persistent human trafficking and child soldier concerns, raising alarm over alleged official complicity and the failure of authorities to report the prosecution of government employees accused of involvement in trafficking crimes.
The concerns are contained in the US Department of State’s 2026 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, covering developments between April 1, 2025 and March 31, 2026.
While acknowledging a significant increase in investigations, prosecutions and convictions, Washington retained Nigeria on Tier 2, saying the Federal Government still does not fully meet the minimum standards for eliminating trafficking, although it continues to make significant efforts to do so.
More significantly, the report placed Nigeria on the Child Soldiers Prevention Act (CSPA) list, alongside Afghanistan, Burma, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Iran, Russia, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Venezuela and Yemen.
The listing could affect specified categories of US military assistance and defence cooperation, subject to applicable presidential waivers
At the centre of Washington’s criticism is what the State Department described as persistent corruption and official complicity in trafficking crimes.
Although Nigerian authorities prosecuted dozens of suspected traffickers and almost doubled the number of convictions during the period under review, the US said there was no corresponding action reported against government employees allegedly implicated in trafficking.
“The government did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government employees allegedly complicit in trafficking crimes or provide details or other actions taken against complicit officials from previous years,” the report said.
The finding underscores what Washington considers a major weakness in Nigeria’s anti-trafficking campaign — the apparent failure to hold allegedly complicit public officials accountable even as ordinary trafficking suspects face prosecution.
The US also raised concerns about the handling of women and girls subjected to forced marriages by Boko Haram, saying that in some cases victims, including trafficking victims, were coerced into returning to their Boko Haram husbands in demobilisation centres in Borno State.
The State Department also placed Nigeria on the CSPA list amid continuing recruitment and exploitation of children by terrorist groups operating in the country.
The report specifically identified Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa, rather than the Nigerian military, as continuing to recruit, abduct and use children.
According to the assessment, children as young as 12 are recruited or abducted and used, including through force, fraud and coercion, as cooks, domestic workers, spies, porters, messengers, bodyguards, checkpoint guards, morality police, armed combatants and suicide bombers.
The distinction is significant because Nigeria’s inclusion on the CSPA list does not amount to an accusation that the Nigerian Armed Forces are recruiting children.
Rather, the US law also covers countries where government forces or government-supported armed groups recruit or use child soldiers, as defined under the Act.
Washington further noted that, unlike the previous reporting period, Nigerian authorities did not report transferring any children associated with non-state armed groups for appropriate protection and rehabilitation.
Under the CSPA listing, restrictions could apply to International Military Education and Training, Foreign Military Financing, Excess Defense Articles, peacekeeping assistance and licences for direct commercial sales of military equipment, subject to a presidential waiver.
Beyond the insurgency in the North-East, the report painted a disturbing picture of trafficking networks operating across Nigeria, particularly the so-called “baby factories”.
According to the State Department, the facilities are often disguised as orphanages, maternity homes or religious centres.
Women are allegedly held against their will in some of the facilities, raped and forced to carry pregnancies to term before the babies are sold.
The report said Nigerian authorities and non-governmental organisations regard the operations as a widespread criminal industry, particularly in southern Nigeria.
Children are also subjected to sex trafficking and forced labour in granite quarries, artisanal mines, domestic work, begging, street vending, textile manufacturing and agriculture, while adults and children are exploited in forced labour on cocoa farms.
The report further alleged that some corrupt Quranic school teachers exploit children, predominantly boys from rural communities, through forced begging and seasonal agricultural work.
In some states, women and girls are also subjected to forced marriages under the traditional practice of “money marriages”, in which families give them out to older men to settle debts.
Washington expressed particular concern about a sharp decline in the number of trafficking survivors who received government assistance.
According to the report, 675 victims received assistance in 2025, compared with 2,058 in the previous year, despite authorities identifying thousands of trafficking victims.
Support for male victims was described as especially inadequate, with only one dedicated NGO shelter available for adult male trafficking survivors during the year.
The report also criticised conditions in shelters operated by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), saying residents were not allowed freedom of movement.
It said access to some protection services was tied to victims’ willingness to cooperate with law enforcement proceedings, while adults who declined shelter accommodation were not provided alternative services, leaving them potentially vulnerable to further exploitation.
Washington also said Nigeria lacked a formal policy to prevent trafficking victims from being removed to countries where they could face hardship or retaliation.
The State Department also identified weaknesses in Nigeria’s labour recruitment system.
It said the government did not prohibit workers from paying recruitment fees, did not report holding recruiters civilly or criminally accountable for fraudulent recruitment, and failed to provide specialised child labour and human trafficking training to labour inspectors.
The report also said diplomatic personnel were not provided anti-trafficking training.
But the concerns went beyond Nigerians being trafficked at home and abroad.
According to the report, highly organised foreign criminal syndicates fraudulently recruit foreigners to Nigeria with promises of employment, confine them in leased properties and compel them to participate in organised online scams.
It also raised concerns over Russia’s Alabuga Start programme, saying sources reported that Nigeria’s Ministry of Education helped promote the programme despite warning signs.
The report alleged that Russian authorities fraudulently recruit and use Nigerians to fight in the Russia-Ukraine war.
It also said North Korean nationals working in Nigeria may be operating under exploitative conditions displaying indicators of forced labour, while some Chinese nationals working in the country may have been subjected to forced labour.
Despite the sweeping concerns, the State Department acknowledged that Nigeria stepped up its overall fight against trafficking during the reporting period.
Authorities investigated 1,341 trafficking cases involving 1,367 suspects, almost twice the 744 investigations recorded in the previous year.
The government prosecuted 94 suspects and convicted 97 traffickers, compared with 71 prosecutions and 49 convictions in 2024.
A majority of these convicted received prison sentences of at least one year.
Funding for victim services also increased from N128 million to N233 million, while the allocation for trafficking prevention jumped from N58.8 million to N245 million.
Authorities identified 2,004 trafficking victims and coordinated the repatriation of 428 Nigerians exploited abroad.
The government also secured restitution for 14 victims as part of criminal sentences, maintained standard operating procedures and the National Referral Mechanism, operated an anti-trafficking hotline and continued implementation of its 2022–2026 National Action Plan.
Anti-trafficking task forces were operational in 23 states, while the police established a cybercrime unit to combat organised online scam operations and worked with INTERPOL and foreign governments on investigations across West Africa and Southeast Asia.
Those measures were among the reasons Washington retained Nigeria on Tier 2 rather than downgrading the country.
Nigeria has faced sustained international scrutiny over human trafficking because of its position as a source, transit and destination country for victims of sexual exploitation, forced labour and other forms of trafficking.
