Women at centre of Nigeria’s human trafficking crisis – NAPTIP

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 the primary targets. Director-General of NAPTIP, Binta Adamu Bello, stated this yesterday in Abuja during a press conference to commence activities marking the 2025 World […]

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 the primary targets.

Director-General of NAPTIP, Binta Adamu Bello, stated this yesterday in Abuja during a press conference to commence activities marking the 2025 World Day Against Human Trafficking.

She said the rising cases of sextortion, online loan scams, baby factories, and fake job opportunities across Nigeria and neighbouring countries had 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.

She 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.