The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has raised alarm over increasingly sophisticated tactics used by human traffickers to recruit victims, including fake scholarships, online loan offers, organ harvesting, and the use of social media to lure young Nigerians into exploitation.
Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja to flag off activities marking the 2025 World Day Against Human Trafficking, NAPTIP’s Director-General, Binta Adamu Bello, described the evolving trends as deeply troubling, stressing the need for urgent, collaborative national action.
“The fight against human trafficking has continued to take new dimensions with emerging trends daily,” she said. “This is coupled with a new destination and further exploitation of victims. Some of the disturbing trends that are on the increase are fake job opportunities and scholarships in some destination countries, recruitment of victims as marketing agents for some branded products to exploit them, and recruitment of unsuspecting youths for online scams (Yahoo-Yahoo) within Nigeria, Ghana and some West African countries.”
Bello said traffickers are also using digital platforms and fraudulent loan schemes to ensnare victims. She described how traffickers posing as loan providers operate online, offering small financial relief but later coercing recipients into prostitution or other exploitative arrangements.
“The online loan scheme is a situation where the suspect uses social media handles to lure unsuspecting victims into accepting, but at the end of the day, compels them into prostitution in return for the loan. This is common in Nigeria, Ghana,” she said.
She added that the use of baby factories and organ trafficking were also on the rise, alongside cases of online sextortion and revenge pornography, particularly targeting women and girls in Nigeria and Ghana.
According to Bello, traffickers continue to exploit vulnerabilities in the migration system, global supply chains, and loopholes in economic regulations. “Organised criminal networks use migration flows, global supply chains, legal and economic loopholes, and digital platforms to facilitate cross-border trafficking at a massive scale,” she said.
To counter the growing digital dimensions of trafficking, Bello disclosed that the agency’s Cybercrime Squad had been fortified. “The capacity of the Cybercrime Squad of the Agency has been strengthened to respond and address the growing trends of online recruitment and exploitation,” she said.
Bello emphasized that trafficking remains a major threat to national security and development. “Human trafficking threatens national development and weakens the foundation and pillars of any nation, with women and youth as the main targets,” she said. “We must set aside any rivalry and join hands together and ensure the protection of Nigerians. Together, let us kick human traffickers out of Nigeria.”
She also pledged stronger coordination among stakeholders in the coming months. “We shall increase our coordination mechanism to empower all state and non–state actors to detect and report issues of human trafficking anywhere in the country,” Bello added.
Also speaking at the event, the Country Representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Mr. Cheikh Toure, reaffirmed the agency’s support for Nigeria and underscored the global nature of human trafficking.
“I reaffirm UNODC’s unwavering solidarity with the Nigerian people in confronting the scourge of human trafficking. Trafficking is not an incidental crime, but a calculated, transnational enterprise profiting from the vulnerability of our women, children, and men,” Toure said.
He called for grassroots engagement and targeted interventions in vulnerable communities. “Policies alone cannot win this fight. Trafficking festers where vulnerability is highest—in underserved communities, border regions, and among marginalised youth. We must redirect energy and resources to the grassroots: empowering local leaders, traditional institutions, and community networks,” he said.
Toure described human trafficking as a crime that “violates every principle of human dignity, destabilises societies, and undermines the rule of law,” and pledged continued support from UNODC to dismantle criminal networks and protect survivors.
“UNODC will deepen its partnership with Nigeria working with government, civil society, and survivors to shatter criminal empires, uplift victims, and build a future where no Nigerian is bought or sold,” he added.
