US Lists Nigeria Over Child Soldier Concerns, Threatens Military Aid Restrictions

The United States has included Nigeria among 14 countries identified for the recruitment or use of child soldiers, a designation that could lead to restrictions on certain forms of American military assistance.

The listing appears in the 2026 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, covering the period from April 1, 2025, to March 31, 2026.Under the Child Soldiers Prevention Act (CSPA), the restrictions may affect 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.

Nigeria was named 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 report also kept Nigeria on Tier 2 for human trafficking. This category applies to countries whose governments do not fully meet the minimum standards for eliminating trafficking but are making significant efforts to do so.

US authorities expressed concern over corruption and alleged official complicity in trafficking crimes.

The report stated that the government did not report any investigations, prosecutions or convictions of government employees allegedly involved in trafficking, nor did it provide details of actions taken against complicit officials from previous years.

It further criticised Nigeria’s victim protection efforts, noting that only 675 trafficking victims received assistance in 2025, down from 2,058 the previous year. Support services, especially for male victims, remained limited, with just one dedicated non-governmental organisation shelter for adult male victims operating during the period.

The report added that shelters run by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) restricted residents’ freedom of movement, while access to some protection services depended on victims cooperating with law enforcement.

Despite these criticisms, the report recognised increased government efforts in investigating, prosecuting and securing convictions in human trafficking cases compared with the previous reporting period.