The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has revealed that it rescued 156 victims of human trafficking between January and July 2026, while more than 300 Nigerians were repatriated from Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire in 2025.
The agency also warned that traffickers are increasingly targeting educated Nigerian youths through fake overseas job offers, forcing many into cybercrime operations in Southeast Asia.
NAPTIP Director-General Binta Bello disclosed this on Wednesday during a press conference at the agency’s headquarters in Abuja ahead of the 2026 World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, marked annually on July 30. This year’s theme is “Trapped Behind the Scam.”
According to Bello, traffickers now rely on digital platforms to deceive young Nigerians with promises of high-paying jobs in information technology, digital marketing, cryptocurrency trading, gaming, telecommunications and customer service.
“Many young people, particularly educated and highly skilled youths, are lured with promises of lucrative employment opportunities abroad in information technology, digital marketing, customer service, cryptocurrency trading, gaming or telecommunications.
“Upon arrival in foreign countries, especially parts of Asia, they discover that the promised jobs do not exist. Instead, their passports are confiscated, their freedom is restricted, and they are forced under threats, intimidation, violence, debt bondage, or psychological coercion to perpetrate sophisticated online scams targeting unsuspecting victims across the world,” she said.
Bello disclosed that more than 300,000 people are trafficked into scam compounds across Southeast Asia every year, generating an estimated $64 billion annually for criminal networks.
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“Over 300,000 people are trafficked into scam operations across Southeast Asia annually, with an estimated revenue of about $64 billion generated. About 66 countries of origin are represented among trafficked victims, with approximately 74 per cent of identified scam compounds concentrated in the Mekong region, Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand and Laos,” she added.
She described the conditions inside the compounds as brutal, saying victims who fail to meet targets are subjected to abuse.
“For those who fail to meet targets, they are locked in solitary confinement, tortured, raped, and even have their organs harvested.
“Families lose contact with their loved ones. Parents exhaust their savings in desperate attempts to secure what they believe are legitimate overseas opportunities.
“Without any intention of sounding alarmist, the emerging face of human trafficking is dreadful, dangerous, and poses a multi-dimensional threat to the entire nation with collateral generational damage.”
The NAPTIP boss explained that traffickers typically recruit victims through social media job advertisements before moving conversations to encrypted messaging platforms.
“In the first stage, victims are contacted via social media job-listing pages promising overseas employment, post-graduate scholarships, customer service roles or remote work.
“Recruiters arrange visa and flights through a local escort, and passports are confiscated on arrival. The second stage involves digital grooming through encrypted messaging apps to build trust, isolate the victim from family, and finalise travel terms.
“The third stage involves a travel facilitation fee through informal money-transfer agents and crypto wallets. The final stage is exploitation at the destination, victims are held in fenced compounds and forced to run romance and investment scams under constant threat.”
Bello also disclosed that NAPTIP’s Cyber Response Team had dismantled several illegal training centres in Nigeria where young people were allegedly being groomed for internet fraud.
She said the agency recently intercepted 46 suspected trafficking victims at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja before they were flown to conflict-prone Middle Eastern countries, while another 120 victims were rescued in Kano.
“A few months ago, I personally led an operation, acting on credible intelligence, which resulted in the interception and rescue of 46 suspected victims of human trafficking at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, who were being trafficked to security-challenged countries in the Middle East. About 120 victims were also rescued in Kano,” she stated.
On prosecution efforts, Bello said NAPTIP has recorded 839 convictions since its establishment, with 47 convictions secured between January and July 2026.
“NAPTIP has demystified human traffickers, especially the so-called big fishes who were before now regarded as untouchable. A few months ago, a high-profile trafficker and his wife were convicted in Ondo State, and property worth millions of naira, including houses, was forfeited,” she said.
Also speaking, Cheik Touré, Country Representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), stressed that tackling trafficking requires creating more opportunities for young people.
“Trafficking thrives where legitimate opportunity is scarce. Young people who cannot find decent jobs at home become the very population that traffickers seek out. Every skill acquired, every job created, and every opportunity opened at home is one less door left ajar for traffickers to exploit.
“Investing in youth is therefore not simply a development priority, it is a frontline defence against trafficking.”
Touré also urged journalists to adopt a victim-centred approach when reporting trafficking cases.
“We need you to report right. We need you to report transparently. We need you to help hold people accountable and promote narratives that restore dignity to those who have been exploited.”
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) disclosed that it has supported more than 7,600 trafficking victims in Nigeria since 2017, while noting that most victims fall within the 18 to 25 age bracket.
IOM Chief of Mission Dimanche Sharon stressed that individuals forced into online fraud operations should be recognised as victims rather than offenders.
“Trafficking for forced criminality is a form of trafficking in persons. Victims compelled to participate in these activities remain victims and should be identified, protected, and assisted rather than automatically criminalised,” she said.
NAPTIP’s activities for the 2026 World Day Against Trafficking in Persons will include awareness campaigns, community sensitisation programmes, an advocacy walk, survivor engagement activities and a novelty football match with partner organisations.