…New Initiative Targets Digital Recruitment, Trafficking Proceeds, Weak Prosecution and Cross-Border Crime
By Mudi Mohammed
The Federal Government has launched a new regional initiative with France to strengthen Nigeria’s fight against human trafficking, as the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, warned that criminal networks are increasingly exploiting digital platforms, irregular migration channels and vulnerable populations to expand their operations.
The PROTECT Regional Project, funded by the French Development Agency, AFD, and implemented by Expertise France, seeks to move Nigeria’s anti-trafficking response beyond the arrest of individual suspects to the disruption of the networks, financial systems and cross-border partnerships that sustain the exploitation of victims.
The five-country intervention, covering Nigeria, Benin, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Togo, was formally launched on Monday in Abuja at a validation workshop on diagnostic assessments.
Speaking at the event, NAPTIP’s Director-General, Binta Adamu-Bello, said the changing nature of human trafficking requires institutions responsible for prevention, investigation, prosecution and victim protection to evolve at the same pace as emerging threats.
She said traffickers are increasingly using social media and other digital platforms to recruit, communicate with and exploit victims, while also taking advantage of economic hardship, unemployment, conflicts, displacement and irregular migration routes.
“Trafficking is no longer confined to identifiable physical locations or traditional recruitment methods,” Adamu-Bello said, stressing that the growing use of technology has made the crime more complex and difficult to combat.
The NAPTIP boss said the agency has intensified public enlightenment across communities, schools, markets, transport corridors, religious institutions and other vulnerable locations, while expanding the use of radio, television and social media to reach young people targeted by traffickers.
She added that NAPTIP continues to provide skills acquisition, educational opportunities, family tracing and sustainable reintegration services for victims and survivors, but acknowledged that more needs to be done.
Adamu-Bello identified delays in the judicial process as a major concern, noting that some trafficking cases remain unresolved for extended periods.
She called for greater support from the judiciary and prosecutorial institutions to ensure timely conclusion of cases and effective accountability for perpetrators.
The Director-General said the agency is strengthening its investigative capacity to respond to technology-facilitated recruitment and exploitation.
She however argued that effective enforcement must also target the financial foundations of trafficking.
“Nigeria’s response must increasingly move beyond arresting individual traffickers to identifying, tracing and recovering the proceeds of trafficking and dismantling the criminal enterprises that finance and sustain exploitation,” she said.
“The greatest value of the project will be measured not simply by the number of activities conducted, but by the extent to which it leaves behind stronger institutions, better coordination, improved systems and more effective protection of vulnerable persons and survivors,” she added.
The intervention is built around five components: strengthening institutional coordination and gender sensitivity; improving the criminal justice chain; preventing trafficking and protecting victims and survivors; enhancing bilateral, cross-border and regional cooperation; and improving the production and analysis of quality data and knowledge.
Adamu-Bello said the project will strengthen digital systems, improve data collection and support evidence-based policy development, operational planning and resource allocation.
She urged ministries, departments and agencies to integrate anti-trafficking measures into relevant government policies and programmes, stressing that prevention and victim protection must remain part of broader national development efforts.
She also called on state and local government authorities to strengthen community-level prevention, and urged civil society organisations to continue supporting awareness creation, victim assistance, advocacy, research and community-based interventions.
“Prevention begins with awareness, vigilance and the willingness to report suspicious activities,” she said.
She further tasked the media with responsible reporting that protects the privacy and dignity of victims and survivors, and encouraged traditional and religious leaders to support community awareness and prevention efforts.
In his welcome address, NAPTIP’s Director of Research and Programme Development, Josiah Emerole, said the workshop marked the culmination of extensive consultations undertaken during the project’s inception phase.
Emerole said the diagnostic assessments were designed to provide a comprehensive understanding of Nigeria’s existing counter-trafficking challenges and identify areas requiring urgent intervention.
He said the findings reflected the experiences of survivors, frontline practitioners and professionals involved in the fight against trafficking.
According to him, the workshop is expected to produce stakeholder consensus on the proposed Nigerian Action Plan and Theory of Change, and prepare the groundwork for formal adoption by the PROTECT Nigerian Committee on September 22, 2026.
The PROTECT Regional Project Manager at Expertise France, Modeste Krah, said the workshop marked both the validation of the project’s inception-phase work and the official launch of implementation in Nigeria.
Krah recalled that between 2019 and 2024, Expertise France worked with NAPTIP and other stakeholders under an earlier anti-trafficking project funded by the European Union and France.
He said the partnership produced digital reporting mechanisms, toll-free reporting lines and other interventions aimed at strengthening trafficking prevention and control infrastructure.
He noted that the experience also exposed areas requiring additional support, leading to the development of PROTECT.
“Trafficking networks are becoming increasingly sophisticated and connected to other forms of organised crime, with digital technologies and online platforms being used to recruit and control victims,” Krah said.
He stressed that strong laws and institutions alone are insufficient, calling for stronger inter-agency cooperation, better use of digital information systems, enhanced investigative and prosecutorial capacities, and effective mechanisms for identifying, referring and protecting victims.
Krah said the diagnostic assessments focused on institutional coordination, governance and asset recovery, digital systems and emerging trafficking trends, and gender considerations.
He emphasised that the validation process was not simply about endorsing reports, but about critically examining findings and ensuring priorities reflect Nigeria’s realities and institutional needs.
“The project is not intended to create parallel structures or duplicate existing initiatives, but to strengthen Nigerian institutions, address identified gaps, build sustainable capacity and facilitate cooperation,” he said.
He also stressed the importance of regional cooperation, noting that human trafficking does not respect national borders.
