The United States government has retained Nigeria in Tier 2 of its 2026 Trafficking in Persons report for not meeting the minimum standards for delisting due to corruption and official complicity.

The U.S. Department of State, in a statement on Monday, acknowledged the government’s increasing efforts to eliminate trafficking but expressed dissatisfaction with its failure in several key areas.

The U.S. government said, “The government of Nigeria does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated increasing efforts, including investigations, prosecutions, and convictions, compared with the previous reporting period; therefore, Nigeria remained on Tier 2.”

It noted that the government increased funding for victim protection and prevention efforts, established a unit to investigate cybercrime, including cases involving human trafficking, and cooperated with other governments to investigate online scam operations.

“The government also issued restitution for more victims. However, the government did not meet the minimum standards in several key areas. The government assisted fewer victims, and services, especially for male victims, remained limited.

“Insufficient resources impeded overall anti-trafficking efforts. Corruption and official complicity in trafficking crimes remained significant concerns,” stated the report.

The U.S. government hailed Nigeria’s Trafficking in Persons Law Enforcement and Administration Act, as amended in 2015, criminalising sex and labour trafficking, which prescribed a minimum penalty of two years’ jail term and a N250,000 fine, including that involving a child, which is seven years’ jail term and N1 million.

It described these penalties as sufficiently stringent, concerning sex trafficking, commensurate with those prescribed for other grave crimes, such as kidnapping.

It stated that in 2025, the government reported investigating 1,341 trafficking cases (589 sex trafficking, 301 labour trafficking, 451 for unspecified forms of trafficking) involving 1,367 suspects, prosecuting 94 suspects (46 sex trafficking, seven forced labour, and 41 for unspecified forms of trafficking), and convicting 97 traffickers; this compared with 744 investigations, 71 prosecutions, and 49 convictions in 2024.

“The government sentenced the majority of convicted traffickers to at least one year of imprisonment. Government data may have included crimes outside the international definition of trafficking,” said the report. “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, even though corruption and official complicity in trafficking crimes remained significant concerns.”