The United States of America has placed Nigeria on its Child Soldiers Prevention Act blacklist, saying the designation could lead to cuts in military training, weapons sales, foreign military financing, and defense cooperation from October 1, 2026, unless President Donald Trump issues a waiver.
This came 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 and obtained by The PUNCH on Monday, 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 Defense 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 organizations, 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 formalized the bilateral 2026 Defense 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 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, the document said.
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.”
