LIFESTYLE Culture

NAPTIP Warns Nigerians Against Rising Online Sextortion, Digital Exploitation

by admin on | 2026-11-06 13:14:53

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NAPTIP Warns Nigerians Against Rising Online Sextortion, Digital Exploitation

By Maryam Muhammad 

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons has issued an urgent public warning regarding a dramatic surge in online sextortion, fake job advertorials, and digital exploitation networks targeting unsuspecting citizens across Nigeria.

The Head of Press and Public Relations at the agency's headquarters, Vincent Adekoye, revealed the alarming operational trends during the Joint Security Press Briefing hosted at the Office of the National Security Adviser in Abuja.

Adekoye explained that trafficking networks now systematically target individuals in social spaces, fitness gyms, and digital platforms, posing as helpful service providers to obtain phone numbers before launching targeted midnight communication and staged emergency interventions to manipulate and extort money.

Investigators are actively tracking cyber links between these sextortion networks and organised online fraud syndicates, noting that multiple victims subjected to assault in illegal camps suffer forced pregnancies, severe emotional trauma, and devastating financial ruin.

Adekoye highlighted a severe ongoing case involving a female lawyer who travelled from Benue State to the Gwarinpa axis in Abuja after responding to a fraudulent online job advertorial, urging the public to strictly avoid quick online friendships and unverified employment offers.

Turning to core enforcement metrics across September and October 2026, the agency secured 16 court convictions for human trafficking and gender-based violence offences, while receiving and rescuing 221 trafficking victims at international airports in Abuja and Lagos.

Enhanced surveillance at Aminu Kano International Airport intercepted 65 potential trafficking victims recruited for exploitation in the Middle East, while a joint enforcement operation with Rivers State authorities shut down 16 compromised health centres operating as illegal adoption hubs in Port Harcourt.

On child trafficking clearance operations, agency strike forces made breakthroughs in an ongoing investigation involving over 300 children allegedly trafficked from Benue and Nasarawa States by a suspect posing as a civil society leader, recovering six additional minors to bring the total number of rescued children to 117 as formal trials commence in Makurdi.

In a related institutional briefing delivered at the same forum, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps announced the sanctioning of 79 personnel for professional misconduct, highlighting the summary dismissal of two officers involved in an unauthorised firearm engagement that resulted in the death of Mining Marshals Commander Levi Agada in Nasarawa State.

Operating under the strategic leadership of Commandant General Professor Ahmed Abubakar Audi, the corps reinforced a zero-tolerance policy against internal compromise, emphasising that isolated rogue actions do not represent the core integrity of the national workforce.

The civil defence corps simultaneously reported major operational victories, including the dismantling of a child trafficking syndicate operating under the guise of a fraudulent non-governmental organisation named the Back to School Project, which led to the arrest of lead suspect Anderson Archibong and the rescue of trafficked children.

In infrastructure protection sweeps, NSCDC strike teams cracked down on organised vandalism syndicates targeting power, rail, and telecommunications assets, arresting a former electrical utility employee and accomplices for vandalising over 15 kilometres of aluminium conductors.

Preparing for the 2027 General Elections, the civil defence corps inaugurated a specialised three-day electoral framework workshop to train field officers on legal guidelines, operational neutrality, and professional conduct, with Commandant General Audi issuing a strict directive against voter intimidation or compliance with unlawful orders.