By TheDailyNewsHub Reporter
The United States has placed Nigeria on its Child Soldiers Prevention Act (CSPA) list, raising the possibility of restrictions on certain forms of American military assistance, weapons sales and defence-related support during the 2027 fiscal year.
The designation was reported following the release of the US Department of State’s 2026 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report on October 11, 2026. The report covers developments between April 1, 2025, and March 31, 2026, and identifies the continued recruitment, abduction and use of children by Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) as a major concern in Nigeria.
Nigeria is among 14 countries named on the CSPA list, alongside Afghanistan, Burma, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Iran, Russia, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Venezuela and Yemen.
Under the law, countries identified on the list may face restrictions on specific categories of US security assistance and licences for commercial sales of military equipment. These include International Military Education and Training, Foreign Military Financing, Excess Defence Articles and certain Peacekeeping Operations assistance, subject to statutory exceptions and presidential waivers.
The restrictions are not a blanket suspension of all defence cooperation. US President Donald Trump has the authority to waive the prohibitions if he determines that doing so is in the national interest and certifies that the country concerned is taking effective and continuing steps to address the problem of child soldiers. The relevant provisions are set out in the US Child Soldiers Prevention Act.
The State Department’s findings describe how armed groups exploit children in a range of roles, including as combatants, cooks, messengers, spies, guards and suicide bombers. Children recruited or abducted by these groups are also exposed to physical and sexual abuse, forced labour and other forms of exploitation.
The report further raises concerns about the abduction and exploitation of women and girls in northern Nigeria, including through forced marriage, sexual slavery and domestic servitude. It also identifies the recruitment of children by criminal gangs for forced criminal activities in parts of the country.
The potential restrictions come against the background of longstanding security cooperation between Washington and Abuja, particularly in efforts to tackle terrorism and other security threats. Any restrictions affecting military training, financing or equipment could have implications for particular areas of that partnership, depending on the scope of any applicable waiver or exception.
Nigeria has previously appeared on the CSPA list. Research by the Stimson Center’s CSPA Implementation Tracker records earlier listings between 2015 and 2018 and again in 2020 and 2021. During those earlier periods, successive US presidents issued waivers that allowed certain arms sales and military assistance to continue. The precedent illustrates that inclusion on the list does not automatically mean every affected form of assistance will stop.
Separately, the 2026 TIP Report assessed Nigeria’s broader efforts to combat human trafficking. The report found that the country had not met the US government’s minimum standards for eliminating trafficking for the 15th consecutive year, while acknowledging some progress in areas such as funding and victim support. It also raised concerns about official complicity in trafficking-related offences and accountability for alleged misconduct.
The CSPA designation therefore places renewed attention on child protection and accountability within the wider security and anti-trafficking debate. Its practical impact on Nigeria’s military relationship with the United States will depend on the assistance affected by the law and whether the US administration grants any applicable waiver.