The United States and Nigeria are reinforcing their collaboration against sextortion, romance scams, and transnational cybercrime. US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Michael Gonzales, recently visited Abuja to advance shared security priorities between the two countries. His visit coincided with Nigeria's Cybercrime Awareness Week, highlighting the growing concern over cyber-enabled crimes.
During his meetings with senior Nigerian officials from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), and the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Gonzales emphasized the need to strengthen cooperation against cyber-enabled crime. They discussed ways to expand joint efforts against financially motivated sextortion, romance scams, and other transnational cybercrime, recognizing the borderless nature of these crimes.
The US and Nigeria have seen success in their collaboration, with recent extraditions demonstrating the effectiveness of their combined efforts. In August, Nigeria extradited two alleged cybercriminals to the US, who face charges in separate financially motivated sextortion cases involving American minors who died by suicide. Since 2022, the FBI Legal Attaché Office at the American Embassy Abuja has worked with the EFCC on 41 extraditions, including five completed in 2026.
Financially motivated sextortion has a devastating impact on children and families, with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children receiving over 50,000 reports in 2025. The FBI identifies Nigeria and other parts of West Africa, as well as Southeast Asia, as locations where prevalent sextortion networks have operated. Through Operation Artemis and related efforts, the FBI works with Nigerian authorities to identify and disrupt these networks targeting Americans.
The US and Nigeria are also focused on combating romance scams, which exploit trust and human relationships, often costing victims their life savings and retirement funds. In March, the NPF National Cybercrime Centre launched a nationwide online-safety and cyber-hygiene campaign addressing romance scams, sextortion, phishing, identity theft, and business email compromise. This campaign aims to raise awareness and prevent these crimes.
Gonzales commended the EFCC as one of Africa's most recognized economic crime enforcement agencies, with a record of high-profile prosecutions, asset recovery, and public engagement. The EFCC's partnership with the FBI demonstrates effective international law enforcement cooperation, sharing information, identifying suspects, making arrests, and working through complex extradition proceedings. Both countries aim to make this cooperation faster, more routine, and increasingly proactive.
Looking ahead, the US and Nigeria have opportunities for deeper law enforcement cooperation, including stronger information sharing, faster advancement of cyber and financial intelligence, and wider public awareness of sextortion and romance scams. The US emphasizes that the strength of this collaboration is measured by outcomes, such as victims protected, criminal networks disrupted, and Nigerian institutions increasingly capable of sustaining these efforts for the benefit of both countries.
Key points
- The US and Nigeria are strengthening collaboration to combat romance scams, sextortion, and transnational cybercrime.
- The two countries have seen success in their collaboration, with recent extraditions demonstrating the effectiveness of their combined efforts.
- The US and Nigeria aim to make their cooperation faster, more routine, and increasingly proactive in combating cybercrime.
