The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has explained why Nigeria remains a Tier 2 country in the global Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report.
NAPTIP Director-General Binta Adamu Bello provided the explanation at a press conference in Abuja on Thursday, July 24, 2025, to mark the commencement of activities for the 2025 World Day Against Human Trafficking, themed “Human Trafficking is Organised Crime, End the Exploitation”.
She alleged that some unnamed government agencies, which should collaborate with NAPTIP in the fight against human trafficking, are hindering the agency’s efforts, thus affecting Nigeria’s chances of being upgraded to Tier 1.
“NAPTIP and its officials have put in extra working time and commitment to the cause of the fight against human trafficking. Sadly, other supporting government agencies are not putting in as much effort as we have over the years, and this is affecting our global perception and ranking,” she said.
“We ought to have been upgraded to Tier 1, but that has not happened. I have held several meetings with directors in the agency on this matter, and we are working assiduously and collaboratively to achieve this target as soon as possible, as it will improve our perception in the global community,” Bello added.
She explained that, according to the US State Department’s Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, Tier 2 countries do not fully meet the minimum standards for eliminating trafficking but are making significant efforts to do so.
She noted that these countries are actively working to improve their anti-trafficking efforts, including investigations, prosecutions, victim protection, and prevention strategies, but still have areas needing improvement. Nigeria has been ranked as a Tier 2 country, as indicated in the 2024 TIP Report.
The NAPTIP boss highlighted that the fight against human trafficking continues to evolve with emerging trends, new destinations, and further exploitation of victims.
“The week-long events to mark the 2025 World Day Against Human Trafficking will be used to highlight these challenges and harness diverse ideas and suggestions on how best to respond to them,” she said.
She listed some disturbing trends on the rise, including fake job opportunities and scholarships in trafficking destination countries; recruitment of victims as marketing agents for branded products with the intent to exploit them; recruitment of unsuspecting youths for online scams (Yahoo-Yahoo) in Nigeria, Ghana, and other West African countries; online trafficking/sextortion and revenge porn in Nigeria and Ghana; baby factories; organ harvesting practices; and online loan schemes where suspects use social media to lure victims into accepting loans, only to compel them into prostitution to repay the loans, primarily in Nigeria and Ghana.
“I am glad to report that, despite the evolving and increasingly complex nature of Trafficking in Persons (TIP), which is transnational and interlinked with other forms of violence and exploitation—particularly affecting women, children, persons with disabilities, and the elderly—NAPTIP has continued to perform maximally in line with its mandates,” she added.
She stated that NAPTIP has adhered to its 5Ps strategy—prevention, partnership, policy, protection, and prosecution—which has led to massive awareness campaigns across the country to reduce citizens’ vulnerability, increased collaboration and coordination, development of counter-trafficking policies, rescue and rehabilitation of victims, and prosecution of offenders.
Representatives from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), International Organisation for Migration (IOM), International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), FIDA, Kingdom of the Netherlands, European Union (EU), and United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner (UNHCR), among others, renewed their commitment to the fight against human trafficking in Nigeria and beyond.
The sun
