- The US State Department's 2026 Traff1cking in Persons Report placed Nigeria on the Child Soldiers Prevention Act list alongside Russia, Iran, Somalia, and 10 other countries
- Nigeria also failed to meet minimum US anti-traff1cking standards for the 15th consecutive year, with government-assisted victims dropping sharply to 675 from 2,058 the prior year
- Military restrictions, including cuts to arms sales and training, could take effect from October 1, 2026, unless President Trump issues a presidential waiver
Legit.ng journalist Adekunle Dada has over eight years of experience covering metro, government policy, and international issues
The United States has placed Nigeria on its Child Soldiers Prevention Act (CSPA) blacklist, a designation that could trigger cuts to American military training, weapons sales, and defence financing starting October 1, 2026, unless President Donald Trump grants a presidential waiver.
The listing appeared in the US State Department's 2026 Traff1cking in Persons (TIP) Report, published on October 11, 2026, which covers the period from April 1, 2025, to March 31, 2026. Nigeria joins 13 other countries on the CSPA list, including Russia, Iran, South Sudan, and Somalia.
Source: Facebook
The report attributed the listing to the continued recruitment and use of children by Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa operating on Nigerian soil.
According to the document, both groups continue "recruiting, abducting, and using — including through force, fraud, and coercion — child soldiers as young as 12 years old" in roles ranging from armed combatants and suic1de bombers to cooks, spies, and checkpoint guards.
The report added that Boko Haram has kidnapped thousands of women and girls, subjecting them to forced marriage, sexual slavery, and forced labour, and said the Nigerian government in some cases returned traff1cking victims who were wives of Boko Haram fighters back to their husbands at demobilisation centres in Borno State.
Nigeria's anti-traff1cking performance
The TIP Report also found that Nigeria failed to meet the minimum standards for eliminating traff1cking for the 15th consecutive year, though it noted some efforts were made.
The number of traff1cking victims who received government-backed support collapsed from 2,058 in the previous reporting year to just 675, even as 2,004 people were identified as victims during the period. Nigerian authorities investigated 1,341 cases involving 1,367 suspects, prosecuted 94, and convicted 97 traffickers, with most receiving prison sentences of at least one year.
Despite this, not a single government official was prosecuted for complicity in traff1cking, with the report noting that "corruption and official complicity in traff1cking crimes remained significant concerns."
It said some law enforcement and military personnel reportedly committed traff1cking offences, accepted bribes, or interfered with investigations.
The report also raised concerns about conditions at shelters run by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traff1cking in Persons (NAPTIP), saying residents, including children, were not allowed freedom of movement or school access under a closed-shelter policy.
On the positive side, the US acknowledged that Nigeria increased victim service funding from N128 million to N233 million, boosted prevention spending from N58.8 million to N245 million, repatriated 428 Nigerians exploited abroad, and maintained anti-traff1cking task forces across 23 states.
The CSPA blacklisting comes despite an active US-Nigeria security partnership that includes joint counterterrorism
in Nigeria's northeast and the recently formalised bilateral 2026 Defence Cooperation Roadmap.
Nigeria last held the top Tier 1 anti-traff1cking ranking in 2011.
Source: Getty Images
US delivers military equipment to Nigerian Air Force
Meanwhile, Legit.ng also reported that the United States delivered military equipment to the Nigerian Air Force on Sunday, September 6, 2026, via a US Air Force C-17 aircraft.
The delivery came one month after NSA Nuhu Ribadu led a Nigerian delegation to the US-Nigeria Joint Working Group meeting in Washington, DC.
The equipment is part of a foreign military sales agreement aimed at boosting Nigeria's counter-terrorism efforts in the north.
Source: Legit.ng