US Blacklists Nigeria Over Child Soldiers, Threatens To Cut Military Support

United States Flag Key Takeaways The United States placed Nigeria on its Child Soldiers Prevention Act blacklist, warning military training, weapons sales and defence cooperation could face cuts from October 1, 2026. The US State Department’s 2026 Trafficking in Persons Report cited Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa’s continued recruitment and use of children as young as 12 years old. The report said Nigeria failed minimum anti-trafficking standards for the 15th straight year, with assisted victims dropping from 2,058 to 675 and no official prosecuted for complicity. The United States of America has placed Nigeria on its Child Soldiers Prevention Act blacklist.

It warned that the designation could lead to cuts in military training, weapons sales, foreign military financing, and defence cooperation from October 1, 2026, unless President Donald Trump issues a waiver.

Naija News reports that the development comes after the State Department’s 2026 Trafficking in Persons Report cited the continued recruitment and use of children by Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa on Nigerian soil.

The report, published on October 11, covers April 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026 and is the latest available assessment of Nigeria’s anti-trafficking performance by the US State Department.

It placed Nigeria on a list of 14 nations, including Russia, Iran, South Sudan, and Somalia, that are accused of recruiting or using child soldiers.

The report also revealed that the country’s anti-trafficking performance failed to meet minimum standards for the 15th consecutive year.

“Governments identified on the list are subject to restrictions, in the following fiscal year, on certain security assistance and commercial licensing of military equipment.

“The CSPA prohibits assistance to governments that are identified in the list under the following authorities: International Military Education and Training, Foreign Military Financing, Excess Defence Articles, and Peacekeeping Operations, with exceptions for some programs undertaken pursuant to the Peacekeeping Operations authority.

“The CSPA also prohibits the issuance of licenses for direct commercial sales of military equipment to such governments. Beginning October 1, 2026, and effective throughout Fiscal Year 2026, these restrictions will apply to the listed countries, absent a presidential waiver, applicable exception, or reinstatement of assistance pursuant to the terms of the CSPA,” the report read.

It said the determination to include a government in the CSPA list is “informed by a range of sources, including first-hand observation by U.S. government personnel and research and credible reporting from various UN entities, international organisations, local and international NGOs, and international and domestic media outlets.”

The blacklisting comes amid an ongoing US-Nigeria security partnership after the Trump administration deployed Navy SEAL Team 6 alongside Nigerian forces for joint counterterrorism operations in the northeast and formalised the bilateral 2026 Defence Cooperation Roadmap.

According to the report, not a single government official was prosecuted for state complicity in trafficking despite acknowledged corruption, even as the number of trafficking victims who received government assistance collapsed from 2,058 the previous year to just 675.

The document said the CSPA listing, if not waived by a sitting US president, could restrict International Military Education and Training, Foreign Military Financing, Excess Defence Articles, peacekeeping assistance, and licences for direct commercial sales of military equipment to Nigeria.

It stated, “The government did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government employees allegedly complicit in trafficking crimes or provide details or other actions taken against complicit officials from previous years,” adding that “corruption and official complicity in trafficking crimes remained significant concerns.”

The report further noted that “observers reported some law enforcement, military, and other government officials reportedly committed trafficking crimes, accepted bribes to facilitate trafficking, or obstructed justice by interfering with investigations.”

The report criticised shelter conditions at the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), noting that NAPTIP’s closed-shelter policy meant “residents were not allowed freedom of movement, including children’s access to school,” and that “access to some protection services was tied to victims’ willingness to cooperate with law enforcement proceedings.”

It noted that adult victims who declined shelter were not provided alternative services, and that “only one dedicated NGO shelter was available for adult male trafficking survivors.”

On the Child Soldiers Prevention Act listing, the report identified Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa as the entities responsible for child recruitment.

“Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa continue recruiting, abducting, and using, including through force, fraud, and coercion, child soldiers as young as 12 years old as cooks, domestic workers, spies, porters, messengers, bodyguards or guards at checkpoints, “morality police,” armed combatants, and suicide bombers in attacks in Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, and Niger; these children are subjected to physical and sexual abuse and forced drug use.

“These non-state armed groups continue to abduct women and girls in the northern regions of Nigeria, many of whom they exploit in forced labour, including in domestic servitude, and in sexual slavery. Boko Haram has kidnapped and subjected thousands of women and girls to forced marriage, including for sexual slavery and forced labour; Boko Haram punishes girls, including for refusing to marry, by forcing them to be suicide bombers.

“In many cases, the government coerces victims of forced marriage, including trafficking victims, to return to their Boko Haram husbands in Borno State demobilisation centres. Criminal gangs in the south recruit and use children in forced criminality, including kidnappings and robberies, and exploit them in sex trafficking. Criminal gangs in the northwest also exploit victims in forced labour in agriculture and mining,” the report stated.

Justina is a passionate storyteller and avid reader. Beyond the newsroom, she’s a strategic content marketer and lifelong learner who loves diving into topics far outside her field. Contact: justina@naijanews.com

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