The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, has warned Nigerians about the growing use of social media, fake job offers and online scams to recruit and exploit victims of human trafficking.
According to a report by the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, the Director General of NAPTIP, Hajiya Binta Adamu Bello, issued the warning in Abuja ahead of the 2026 World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, marked annually on July 30.
Adamu Bello said traffickers were increasingly using digital platforms, encrypted communication channels and fraudulent overseas employment offers to target vulnerable individuals.
She disclosed that NAPTIP rescued more than 300 victims linked to cyber enabled trafficking from Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire in 2025, while another 156 victims were rescued between January and July 2026.
The NAPTIP Director General also said the agency had dismantled suspected trafficking linked scam centres and secured 839 convictions since its establishment, including 47 convictions recorded in 2026.
She urged Nigerians to verify overseas job offers, avoid unofficial recruitment channels and report suspicious activities to the authorities.
Stakeholders, including the International Centre for Migration Policy Development, the Netherlands and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, called for stronger collaboration, safe migration pathways, skills development and job creation to reduce the vulnerability of young people to trafficking.
They also stressed the importance of victim protection, rehabilitation, public awareness and survivor centred reporting in the fight against modern human trafficking.
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