The United States and Nigeria are strengthening cooperation to tackle financially motivated sextortion, romance scams and other cyber-enabled crimes through increased intelligence sharing, joint investigations and prosecution of offenders.
The renewed commitment followed a visit to Abuja by the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Michael Gonzales, who met with officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Office of the National Security Adviser, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency and the Nigeria Police Force.
In a statement issued by the US Embassy in Abuja, the discussions were said to have taken place during Nigeria’s Cybercrime Awareness Week, with a focus on expanding joint operations against transnational cybercrime networks.
Gonzales said international cooperation was essential because offenders increasingly operated across national borders and could exploit differences between jurisdictions to evade law enforcement.
He cited recent extraditions as evidence of the cooperation between both countries, saying criminals could not depend on international boundaries to escape justice when investigative, diplomatic and law enforcement agencies worked together.
Nigeria extradited two alleged cybercriminals to the United States in August. The suspects face separate charges relating to financially motivated sextortion cases involving American minors who reportedly died by suicide.
The FBI’s Legal Attaché Office at the US Embassy in Abuja has worked with the EFCC on 41 extraditions since 2022, including five completed in 2026, according to the embassy.
The scale of the crime has also drawn attention from child protection organisations. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reportedly received more than 50,000 reports relating to sextortion in 2025.
Through Operation Artemis and other initiatives, the FBI works with Nigerian authorities to identify and disrupt criminal networks targeting people in the United States.
The latest engagement underscores efforts by both governments to strengthen cross-border enforcement against cybercrime, particularly offences involving the exploitation of minors and the use of online platforms to extort victims.
Deborah Adeyefa
