The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime have raised concern over the evolution of human trafficking into a technology driven crime, warning that criminal networks are increasingly recruiting young Nigerians through fake online job offers and forcing them into cyber fraud operations abroad.
Speaking ahead of the 2026 World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP Director General Binta Adamu Bello said trafficking has moved beyond familiar patterns of sexual exploitation and forced labour into organized cybercrime enabled by social media, encrypted messaging and cryptocurrency. She said victims are lured with promises of jobs in technology, marketing or cryptocurrency trading, only to have their passports confiscated on arrival abroad and be forced through violence and coercion into running online scams targeting people worldwide.
Bello said large scale scam operations have proliferated across parts of Southeast Asia, trafficking more than 300,000 people annually and generating an estimated 64 billion dollars for criminal networks, with victims who fail to meet targets subjected to torture and other abuse. She warned similar operations are beginning to emerge in Nigeria and other African countries, and said the agency rescued and repatriated over 300 victims from neighboring countries in 2025, with a further 156 rescued since the start of this year, while its cyber response team has dismantled several scam training centers operating under names referencing online fraud culture.
She said NAPTIP has secured 839 convictions since its establishment, including 47 between January and July 2026, and has established more than 180 school based vanguards nationwide to educate young people about trafficking risks, vowing that the agency’s five pillar strategy of prevention, protection, policy, partnership and prosecution would continue to expand.
UNODC Country Representative Cheikh Toure said many people running online scams are themselves trafficking victims who began with the promise of legitimate work, warning that trafficking thrives where legitimate opportunity is scarce and calling for stronger investment in youth employment and vocational training alongside law enforcement action. He urged governments to treat coerced scam workers as victims requiring protection and rehabilitation rather than immediate criminalization.
Separately, the Nigerian Navy handed over rescued suspected trafficking victims to NAPTIP following an anti trafficking operation near Badagry, with Director of Naval Information Abiodun Folorunsho saying the rescued individuals were processed through established procedures before being formally transferred for rehabilitation and further investigation, reflecting the navy’s continued cooperation with other agencies to counter trafficking networks.
