NACTAL faults US trafficking report, demands recognition of Nigerian CSOs’ contributions

The Network Against Child Trafficking, Abuse and Labour (NACTAL) Nigeria has called on the United States Department of State to review its 2026 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, alleging that the assessment failed to adequately recognise the contributions of civil society organisations (CSOs) to the fight against human trafficking in Nigeria.

The National President-elect of NACTAL, Comrade Osita Osemene, made the call in a press statement expressing concern over what the organisation described as the inadequate representation of frontline civil society interventions in the report.

Osemene argued that Nigeria’s anti-trafficking response extends beyond government institutions, stressing that any assessment that fails to capture the contributions of non-governmental organisations, community-based groups and international development partners risks presenting an incomplete picture of the country’s efforts.

He said civil society organisations have remained at the forefront of efforts to prevent trafficking, identify vulnerable persons, rescue victims, provide shelter and psychosocial support, and facilitate the rehabilitation and reintegration of survivors.

According to him, many organisations undertake these responsibilities despite limited funding and other operational challenges.

“These contributions are not incidental. They are integral to the prevention of trafficking, the protection of survivors and the reduction of vulnerability to further exploitation,” Osemene stated.

He expressed concern that the report, in NACTAL’s assessment, did not sufficiently reflect the protection capacity, shelter services, prevention activities and survivor-support interventions undertaken by frontline organisations.

“A national response cannot be fully understood by examining government activities alone while giving inadequate attention to the organisations providing services directly to affected individuals and communities,” he said.

The NACTAL leader identified Patriotic Citizen Initiatives (PCI) and other member organisations as examples of groups providing protection, psychosocial support and reintegration assistance to vulnerable persons and returning migrants.

He explained that many CSOs work directly with communities, families, schools, religious institutions, vulnerable children, women and returning migrants to address trafficking-related risks.

Their interventions, he noted, include awareness campaigns, victim identification and referral, temporary accommodation, family tracing, vocational training, livelihood assistance and long-term reintegration support.

Osemene particularly emphasised the importance of recognising the contributions of non-governmental organisations to victim protection and shelter services.

He maintained that protecting trafficking survivors goes beyond rescue operations, noting that victims often require sustained assistance to recover from exploitation and avoid being trafficked again.

“Protection does not end when a victim is identified, rescued or referred to an authority. Survivors may require safe accommodation, food, healthcare, psychosocial care, legal assistance, family tracing, vocational training, economic support and sustained follow-up to rebuild their lives and reduce the risk of re-trafficking,” he said.

He added that organisations operating shelters bear significant financial and operational responsibilities, including maintaining appropriate facilities, employing trained personnel and providing specialised care.

According to him, these contributions should be properly documented in international assessments, while gaps in funding, shelter capacity and specialised services should also be highlighted.

The NACTAL president-elect further criticised what he described as insufficient attention to community-level trafficking prevention initiatives.

He observed that CSOs frequently undertake sensitisation programmes in schools, religious institutions and local communities to educate vulnerable populations about deceptive recruitment, fraudulent employment offers and exploitative migration arrangements.

Although such interventions may not produce immediately visible outcomes comparable to arrests, prosecutions and convictions, he insisted that they remain essential to preventing trafficking.

“An assessment that concentrates predominantly on government enforcement activities without adequately documenting community-level prevention risks overlooking an important dimension of the national response,” he stated.

Osemene also called for greater recognition of the contributions of international development partners supporting anti-trafficking and migration-related interventions in Nigeria.

He identified the European Union, International Organization for Migration (IOM), International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), FIAP, Expertise France and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) among organisations involved in supporting prevention, protection, capacity-building and reintegration programmes.

He maintained that assessments of international partnerships should not focus exclusively on institutional agreements and government engagements but should also capture the contributions of local implementing organisations responsible for delivering services to vulnerable populations.

Speaking on Nigeria’s placement on Tier 2 and Ghana’s reported elevation to Tier 1 in the 2026 TIP Report, Osemene said the development raised questions about whether the full scope of Nigeria’s anti-trafficking interventions had been adequately considered.

He, however, acknowledged that the classifications are based on the US government’s assessment of countries’ compliance with minimum standards for eliminating trafficking and their efforts towards meeting those standards.

He clarified that NACTAL was not demanding an automatic upgrade of Nigeria’s ranking merely because civil society organisations were active in combating trafficking.

Rather, he said, the organisation wanted a comprehensive and evidence-based assessment that recognised both progress and existing challenges.

“Our concern is not that Nigeria should automatically receive a higher classification because CSOs are active. Neither are we suggesting that the country has no outstanding challenges,” he said.

Osemene acknowledged that human trafficking remained a serious concern in Nigeria, requiring stronger investigations, prosecutions, victim identification, access to justice, protection services and sustainable reintegration programmes.

He stressed that recognising civil society contributions should complement, rather than replace, accountability for government performance.

Consequently, NACTAL urged the US Department of State to review Nigeria’s assessment and determine whether the contributions of civil society organisations and other non-state actors were adequately documented and considered.

The organisation also requested direct engagement with NACTAL members, specialist anti-trafficking organisations, shelter operators, survivor-support providers and reintegration practitioners to obtain additional evidence of their interventions.

It called for improved recognition of CSO activities in victim protection, community awareness, public education, advocacy, capacity-building and engagement with vulnerable populations.

NACTAL further urged the US authorities to strengthen stakeholder consultations and provide opportunities for supplementary submissions from Nigerian organisations whose interventions might not have been adequately captured in the report.

Osemene maintained that such measures would provide a more comprehensive understanding of Nigeria’s anti-trafficking response and help identify areas requiring additional resources, coordination and institutional support.

He also encouraged Nigerian stakeholders to improve documentation, data collection and coordination to ensure that their contributions could be independently verified and appropriately reflected in international assessments.

The NACTAL president-elect emphasised that the organisation was not seeking to shield Nigeria from international scrutiny but was advocating fairness, transparency and inclusiveness in evaluating the country’s anti-trafficking efforts.

“NACTAL Nigeria is not calling for the exemption of Nigeria from scrutiny. We are calling for an assessment that is comprehensive, evidence-based and reflective of the full range of relevant interventions,” he declared.

He described the fight against human trafficking as a collective responsibility requiring effective collaboration among government agencies, civil society organisations, development partners and local communities.

“Civil society organisations are not spectators in the fight against human trafficking. They are active participants in prevention, protection, partnership and reintegration. Their work deserves to be properly documented, considered and recognised,” Osemene said.

He reaffirmed NACTAL’s commitment to collaborating with relevant stakeholders to strengthen Nigeria’s anti-trafficking response, protect vulnerable persons, uphold survivors’ dignity and ensure that perpetrators of human trafficking are brought to justice.