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.
Listing in the 2026 TIP Report
The listing appeared in the US State Department's 2026 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, published on October 11, 2026, covering 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.
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 suicide bombers to cooks, spies, and checkpoint guards.
Boko Haram Abuses and Government Response
The report added that Boko Haram has kidnapped thousands of women and girls, subjecting them to forced marriage, sexual slavery, and forced labour. It also said the Nigerian government in some cases returned trafficking victims who were wives of Boko Haram fighters back to their husbands at demobilisation centres in Borno State.
Nigeria's anti-trafficking performance was also scrutinised. The TIP Report found that Nigeria failed to meet the minimum standards for eliminating trafficking for the 15th consecutive year, though it noted some efforts were made.
Victim Support and Prosecution Statistics
The number of trafficking 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 trafficking, with the report noting that "corruption and official complicity in trafficking crimes remained significant concerns." It said some law enforcement and military personnel reportedly committed trafficking offences, accepted bribes, or interfered with investigations.
Concerns Over Shelter Conditions and Positive Steps
The report also raised concerns about conditions at shelters run by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking 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-trafficking task forces across 23 states.
Security Partnership and Context
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-trafficking ranking in 2011.
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.
