The United States has placed Nigeria on its Child Soldiers Prevention Act (CSPA) blacklist, a designation that could trigger restrictions on military training, weapons sales, foreign military financing and other defence cooperation from October 1, 2026, unless President Donald Trump grants a waiver.
The decision was disclosed in the US State Department’s 2026 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, which identified the continued recruitment and use of children by Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) as key reasons for Nigeria’s inclusion on the list.
The report, published on October 11 and obtained by The PUNCH on Monday, assessed Nigeria’s anti-trafficking efforts between April 1, 2025, and March 31, 2026.
Nigeria was among 14 countries identified by the US government for allegedly recruiting or using child soldiers. Other countries named in the report include Russia, Iran, South Sudan and Somalia.
The designation could complicate Nigeria’s ongoing security partnership with Washington, particularly its counterterrorism operations against insurgent groups in the country’s northeast.
US May Restrict Military Assistance to Nigeria
Under the Child Soldiers Prevention Act, countries listed for recruiting or using child soldiers may face restrictions on specific forms of US security assistance and the commercial licensing of military equipment.
The report identified International Military Education and Training, Foreign Military Financing, Excess Defence Articles and certain Peacekeeping Operations assistance among the programmes potentially affected.
The restrictions also cover licences for direct commercial sales of military equipment to listed governments, subject to applicable exceptions, a presidential waiver or other provisions under the law.
The State Department stated that the measures would take effect from October 1, 2026, unless the US president grants a waiver or another applicable exception is invoked.
The report explained that the designation process draws on multiple sources, including observations by US government personnel, research by international organisations, United Nations agencies, non-governmental organisations and credible media reports.
Nigeria’s inclusion comes amid continuing security cooperation between Abuja and Washington, including joint counterterrorism efforts in the northeast and the formalisation of a bilateral 2026 Defence Cooperation Roadmap.
Boko Haram, ISWAP Accused of Recruiting Children as Young as 12
The State Department identified Boko Haram and ISWAP as the armed groups responsible for the continued recruitment, abduction and use of children in Nigeria and neighbouring countries.
According to the report, the groups recruit children as young as 12 and use them in various roles, including as cooks, domestic workers, spies, porters, messengers, bodyguards, checkpoint guards, armed combatants and suicide bombers.
The report said children were subjected to physical and sexual abuse, forced drug use, fraud, coercion and other forms of exploitation.
It also documented the abduction and exploitation of women and girls in northern Nigeria, including forced labour, domestic servitude, sexual slavery and forced marriage.
Boko Haram has reportedly kidnapped thousands of women and girls and subjected them to forced marriage, including marriages involving sexual slavery and forced labour.
The report further alleged that some girls were forced to become suicide bombers as punishment for refusing to marry members of the insurgent group.
It raised concerns about the treatment of victims in Borno State, alleging that some victims of forced marriage were coerced by government authorities at demobilisation centres to return to their Boko Haram husbands.
Beyond insurgent groups, the report said criminal gangs in southern Nigeria recruit children for forced criminality, including kidnappings and robberies, while exploiting some in sex trafficking.
Criminal gangs in the northwest were also accused of exploiting victims in forced labour in agriculture and mining.
Nigeria Fails to Meet Anti-Trafficking Standards for 15th Consecutive Year
The 2026 report said Nigeria had failed to meet the minimum standards for eliminating human trafficking for the 15th consecutive year.
Despite some progress in investigations, prosecutions and international cooperation, the State Department expressed concern over official complicity in trafficking crimes, corruption, inadequate victim support and shortcomings in labour protection.
The report said the government did not report investigations, prosecutions or convictions of public officials allegedly involved in trafficking crimes during the reporting period. It also noted that authorities did not provide details of action taken against officials implicated in previous years.
“Corruption and official complicity in trafficking crimes remained significant concerns,” the report stated.
It added that observers had reported cases in which law enforcement personnel, military officers and other government officials allegedly committed trafficking offences, accepted bribes to facilitate trafficking or obstructed investigations.
The findings highlight concerns about accountability within public institutions and the effectiveness of Nigeria’s efforts to combat human trafficking.
1,341 Trafficking Cases Investigated, 97 Convictions Recorded
According to the report, Nigerian authorities investigated 1,341 human trafficking cases during the assessment period.
The cases comprised 589 sex trafficking investigations, 301 forced labour cases and 451 cases whose specific categories were not identified.
The investigations involved 1,367 suspects. Of these, 94 were prosecuted and 97 traffickers were convicted, according to the report.
The US acknowledged that most convicted traffickers received prison sentences of at least one year.
It also recognised increased cooperation between Nigerian authorities and foreign governments in investigating trafficking networks, including operations conducted across West Africa and Southeast Asia in partnership with INTERPOL.
However, the figures indicate continuing challenges in translating investigations into prosecutions and convictions, particularly in cases involving alleged official complicity.
Trafficking Victims Receiving Government Assistance Plunge
The report identified 2,004 trafficking victims during the reporting period, including 893 victims of sex trafficking and 1,111 victims of forced labour.
However, only 675 victims received government-supported assistance, a sharp decline from the 2,058 victims who received assistance in the previous reporting period.
The reduction raised concerns about the accessibility and capacity of victim protection services in Nigeria.
The State Department also criticised conditions at shelters operated by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).
According to the report, NAPTIP’s closed-shelter policy restricted residents’ freedom of movement and prevented children in the facilities from accessing school.
The report further alleged that access to certain protection services was linked to victims’ willingness to cooperate with law enforcement investigations.
Adult victims who declined shelter accommodation were reportedly not offered alternative services, while only one dedicated non-governmental organisation shelter was available for adult male trafficking survivors.
These shortcomings, the report indicated, could leave vulnerable victims without adequate support, rehabilitation and reintegration services.
US Raises Concerns Over Labour Trafficking and Foreign Recruitment Networks
The State Department also criticised Nigeria’s response to labour trafficking, particularly gaps in the regulation of recruitment agencies and the protection of workers.
The report said the government did not prohibit worker-paid recruitment fees, report holding labour recruiters civilly and criminally liable for fraudulent recruitment, or provide specialised training on child labour and human trafficking to labour inspectors.
It also noted that anti-trafficking training was not provided to Nigerian diplomatic personnel.
The report raised concerns about international criminal networks exploiting people through fraudulent recruitment schemes.
It alleged that highly organised foreign criminal syndicates recruited foreigners to Nigeria with promises of employment, confined them in leased properties and forced them to participate in organised online scams.
The document also alleged that Russian authorities fraudulently recruited Nigerians to fight in the Russia-Ukraine war.
It further claimed that Nigeria’s Ministry of Education helped promote Russia’s Alabuga Start programme despite warning signs.
The report also expressed concern that North Korean nationals working in Nigeria might be operating under exploitative conditions indicative of forced labour.
Baby Factories Remain a Concern in Nigeria
The report identified baby factories as another persistent feature of Nigeria’s human trafficking problem.
These illegal operations are often disguised as orphanages, maternity homes or religious centres. Women are reportedly held against their will, sexually abused and forced to give birth, after which their babies are sold.
The State Department described the practice as a documented part of Nigeria’s trafficking landscape, with cases concentrated predominantly in the southern part of the country.
The findings underscore the range of trafficking-related abuses confronting Nigerian authorities, extending beyond insurgency and forced labour to include sexual exploitation, fraudulent recruitment and the illegal sale of children.
Nigeria Increases Funding for Anti-Trafficking Efforts
Despite its criticisms, the US report acknowledged increased government spending on anti-trafficking initiatives.
Funding for victim services rose from N128 million to N233 million, while prevention spending increased from N58.8 million to N245 million.
The government also coordinated the repatriation of 428 Nigerians exploited abroad, secured restitution for 14 victims as part of criminal sentences and maintained anti-trafficking task forces in 23 states.
The report recognised these efforts but indicated that further improvements were needed in victim protection, law enforcement accountability, labour regulation and the prosecution of trafficking offences.
Nigeria remains a source, transit and destination country for human trafficking. The country last attained the highest Tier 1 ranking in the State Department’s annual assessment in 2011 and has since moved between Tier 2 and the lower Tier 2 Watch List.
NAPTIP Promises Response to US Report
When contacted for comments, NAPTIP’s Head of Press and Public Relations, Vincent Adekoye, said the agency would make its response to the report public.
The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, did not respond to calls to his mobile telephone or a text message seeking the Presidency’s reaction.
Nigeria’s inclusion on the Child Soldiers Prevention Act blacklist places renewed attention on the government’s efforts to protect children from armed-group recruitment and address wider human trafficking concerns.
Unless the US president grants a waiver or another applicable exception is invoked, the designation could affect aspects of Nigeria’s military training, financing, equipment transfers and defence procurement from October 1, 2026.
The potential restrictions come at a time when both countries continue to cooperate on counterterrorism, making the implementation of the CSPA provisions a significant issue for Nigeria’s security and diplomatic relations with the United States.