Child Soldiers, Baby Factories: US Report Raises Alarm Over Trafficking in Nigeria

The United States government has indicted Nigeria for failing to meet the minimum standards for eliminating human trafficking, citing corruption, official complicity and the government’s failure to prosecute officials allegedly involved in trafficking crimes.

The US also listed Nigeria among 14 countries recruiting and using child soldiers.

These findings are contained in the 2026 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, which covers the period from April 1, 2025, to March 31, 2026.

The report retained Nigeria on Tier 2, a category for countries whose governments do not fully meet the minimum standards established by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act but are making significant efforts to meet the requirements.

Nigeria was also included on the Child Soldiers Prevention Act (CSPA) list alongside Afghanistan, Burma, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Iran, Russia, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Venezuela and Yemen.

The US Department of State noted that, following Nigeria’s inclusion on the CSPA list, restrictions would apply from October 1, 2026, to international military education and training, foreign military financing, excess defence articles, peacekeeping operations and licences for direct commercial sales of military equipment, unless a presidential waiver is granted.

However, the State Department acknowledged that the Nigerian government had demonstrated increased efforts, including investigations, prosecutions and convictions, compared with the previous reporting period. It consequently retained the country on Tier 2.
The Indictments
The US report identified corruption and official complicity in trafficking crimes as significant concerns.
It stated: “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 also alleged that, in many cases, the government compelled victims of forced marriage, including trafficking victims, to return to their Boko Haram husbands at demobilisation centres in Borno State.
It further criticised the government’s handling of trafficking victims, noting that 675 victims received assistance in 2025, compared with 2,058 in the previous year. Services, particularly for male victims, remained limited.
According to the report, only one dedicated non-governmental organisation shelter was available for adult male victims during the year.
It added: “NAPTIP’s shelters did not permit shelter residents freedom of movement. The government required victims to cooperate in law enforcement proceedings to access certain protection services.
“The government did not provide services to adult victims who declined shelter services, increasing their vulnerability.
“The government did not have a formal policy to prevent the removal of victims to countries where they would face hardship or retribution.
“Unlike the previous year, the government did not report transferring any children associated with non-state armed groups.”

Weak Labour Protection
The report further accused the government of failing to adequately protect workers against exploitation.
It stated: “The government did not prohibit worker-paid recruitment fees… did not report holding labour recruiters liable civilly and criminally for fraudulent recruitment and did not provide specialized training on child labour and human trafficking to labour inspectors. The government did not provide anti-trafficking training to its diplomatic personnel.”

On child soldiers, the report stated that Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) continued recruiting, abducting and using children, including through force, fraud and coercion.

It noted that children as young as 12 were exploited as cooks, domestic workers, spies, porters, messengers, bodyguards, checkpoint guards, morality police, armed combatants and suicide bombers.

The report defined a child soldier as any person under 18 who directly participates in hostilities, anyone under 15 who is voluntarily recruited, or anyone under 18 recruited by armed forces distinct from the state, including for roles such as cook, porter, messenger, medic, guard or sex slave.

Foreign Exploitation and Emerging Trends
The report said highly organised foreign criminal syndicates fraudulently recruited foreign nationals for work in Nigeria, confined them in rented properties and forced them to participate in organised online scams.
It also raised concerns about alleged recruitment schemes involving foreign countries.

“Sources reported Nigeria’s Ministry of Education helped promote Russia’s Alabuga Start program despite red flags.
“Russian authorities fraudulently recruit and use Nigerians to fight in the Russia-Ukraine war. North Korean nationals working in Nigeria may be operating under exploitative working conditions and display multiple indicators of forced labour. Chinese nationals working in Nigeria may have been forced to work by the Chinese government,” it added.

Baby Factories, Forced Labour and Sex Trafficking
The report stated that criminal operators ran illegal “baby factories”, often disguised as orphanages, maternity homes or religious centres.

According to the report, traffickers held women against their will, raped them and forced them to become pregnant and give birth before selling the children.

It stated that the Nigerian government and non-governmental organisations described the facilities as a widespread criminal industry, particularly in the southern part of the country.

The report also said traffickers exploited children in sex trafficking and forced labour in granite quarries, artisanal mines, domestic work, begging, street vending, textile manufacturing and agriculture.

Adults and children were also reportedly subjected to forced labour on cocoa farms.

It added that some corrupt Quranic school teachers exploited children, mostly boys from rural areas, by forcing them into begging and seasonal agricultural work.

“In some states, families sell women and girls into forced marriages to older men to repay family debt in the traditional practice of ‘money marriages’,” the report stated.
The Positives

Despite the criticisms, the report acknowledged improvements in the Nigerian government’s efforts to investigate and prosecute human trafficking cases.

It disclosed that the government investigated 1,341 trafficking cases involving 1,367 suspects in 2025, prosecuted 94 suspects and secured 97 convictions.

These figures represented an increase from 744 investigations, 71 prosecutions and 49 convictions recorded in 2024.

The report also noted that the government sentenced most convicted traffickers to at least one year in prison and increased funding for victim support services.

In 2025, the government allocated ₦233 million ($161,000) for victim services, up from ₦128 million in the previous year. It also allocated ₦245 million ($169,000) for prevention, compared with ₦58.8 million in 2024.

According to the report, the government established a cybercrime unit within the police to combat online scam operations and collaborated with other governments and INTERPOL on investigations in West Africa and Southeast Asia.

The report further stated that the government identified 2,004 trafficking victims, maintained standard operating procedures and a National Referral Mechanism, and coordinated the repatriation of 428 Nigerians exploited abroad.

It added that the government ordered restitution for 14 victims as part of criminal sentences.

Nigeria also continued implementing its 2022–2026 National Action Plan, operated an anti-trafficking hotline, conducted public awareness campaigns and maintained anti-trafficking task forces in 23 states.
(Vanguard)