The United States has placed Nigeria on its Child Soldiers Prevention Act (CSPA) blacklist over the continued recruitment of children by Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa.
The designation was contained in the US State Department’s 2026 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, released on October 11, 2026. The report covers April 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026.
According to the report, Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) continue to abduct, recruit and use children as young as 12 in the North-East as cooks, porters, spies, checkpoint guards, combatants and suicide bombers.
Nigeria was listed among 14 countries, including Russia, Iran, Afghanistan, Somalia, South Sudan, DR Congo and Venezuela.
Under US law, governments on the CSPA list face restrictions in the next fiscal year on International Military Education and Training (IMET), Foreign Military Financing (FMF), Excess Defence Articles, Peacekeeping Operations support and licences for direct commercial sales of military equipment.
The State Department said the restrictions will take effect from October 1, 2026, and remain throughout Fiscal Year 2026, unless President Donald Trump issues a waiver, an exception applies, or assistance is reinstated under the CSPA.
The report also said Nigeria has failed to meet the minimum standards for eliminating trafficking for the 15th consecutive year.
The move comes despite ongoing security cooperation between Abuja and Washington, including counter-terrorism operations in the North-East and a 2026 Defence Cooperation Roadmap.
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