The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has expressed concern over the increasing rate of human trafficking in the country, with women and girls identified as primary targets.
Director-General of NAPTIP, Binta Adamu Bello, stated this during a press conference to commence activities marking the 2025 World Day Against Human Trafficking.
At the event which held in Abuja, on Thursday, Bello said the rising cases of sextortion, online loan scams, baby factories, and fake job opportunities across Nigeria and neighbouring countries have made the crime more sophisticated, with women bearing the brunt of the exploitation.
“Human trafficking is a visible threat to national development. It weakens the foundation and pillars of any nation, with women and youth as the main target,” she said.
Bello said traffickers now use digital platforms and deceptive recruitment methods to lure young women, especially in underserved communities, into forced labour and sexual exploitation.
She listed some of the new methods being used by trafficking syndicates, including fake scholarship offers, use of online loans to entrap victims, recruitment for online scams (commonly known as Yahoo-Yahoo), sextortion and revenge pornography, baby factories, and organ harvesting.
Bello said despite the evolving nature of the crime, the agency had continued to respond through coordinated strategies involving prevention, policy, prosecution, protection, and partnership.
She added that the agency had strengthened its cybercrime squad and aligned with the joint case team on cybercrime under the Federal Ministry of Justice to tackle the growing trend of online recruitment and exploitation.
Also speaking at the event, the Country Representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Mr Cheikh Toure, said human trafficking was no longer a random crime but a well-organised transnational business.
He said, “Trafficking is not incidental crime. It is a calculated, transnational enterprise profiting from the vulnerability of our women, children, and men.”
Toure commended the agency for its leadership and said the UNODC would continue to support Nigeria through several initiatives, including the EU-funded Migration Governance project and the Netherlands-backed PROMIS project on trafficking and smuggling.
He called for more focus on local solutions, adding that communities, traditional leaders, and civil society must be empowered to prevent trafficking at the grassroots level.
Bello also said that the 28th national stakeholders forum would bring together government agencies, donor organisations, security operatives, civil society, and survivors to discuss emerging challenges and strengthen the country’s anti-trafficking response.
She assured that NAPTIP would continue to build strong partnerships to dismantle trafficking networks and protect vulnerable Nigerians.
“Our resolve to tackle human trafficking is firm and we shall continue to scale our strategies to outsmart the traffickers,” she said.
