Chukwu Obinna 
ABUJA, Nigeria – Nigeria is deepening global partnerships to fight online human trafficking and migrant smuggling, following a strategic meeting between the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Abuja on Monday.
The session, led by UNODC Project Coordinator on Cybercrime, Ms. Baranage Diana Marcus, focused on developing coordinated digital enforcement strategies, data-sharing frameworks and advanced cyber tools to detect criminal networks exploiting online platforms for illegal migration.
“UNODC is committed to supporting Nigeria in building stronger digital safeguards against migrant smuggling,” Marcus said. “The threats are evolving, and our response must evolve even faster.”
Representing the Comptroller-General of Immigration, Mrs. Kemi Nandap, Deputy Comptroller-General (Migration Directorate), N. Odikpo, described the collaboration as “timely and critical,” noting that digital platforms have increasingly become recruitment and coordination spaces for traffickers.
“We must adopt urgent, coordinated measures to boost surveillance and enforcement capacity,” she said.
Also speaking, DCG Augusta Obianime, who heads the ICT and Cybersecurity Directorate, emphasised the need for sustained training, infrastructure investment and intelligence exchange.
The meeting underscores Nigeria’s growing shift toward intelligence-led border management and international cooperation in migration governance.
Officials noted that further joint programmes will focus on improving real-time monitoring and prosecuting tech-enabled trafficking rings.
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Oluwatobi Adu 
Edino Chubiyo Cornelius 
Koko Maxwella 