Nigeria and the United States have strengthened their fight against cybercrime, with joint operations between the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) facilitating 41 extraditions since 2022.
The United States Diplomatic Mission to Nigeria disclosed this in a statement on Monday following a visit to Abuja by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Michael Gonzales.
According to the statement, the extraditions include five completed in 2026, marking a significant increase in cooperation between both countries.
Between 2012 and 2021, Nigeria and the United States recorded four arrests and five extraditions through their collaboration.
Nigeria, US Intensify Cybercrime Crackdown
Gonzales met with senior Nigerian government officials to discuss strengthening joint efforts against financially motivated sextortion, romance scams and other forms of transnational cybercrime.
The engagements, which coincided with Nigeria’s Cybercrime Awareness Week, involved officials from the EFCC, Office of the National Security Adviser, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency and Nigeria Police Force.
The US statement also revealed that Nigeria extradited two alleged cybercriminals to the United States in August.
The suspects face charges in separate financially motivated sextortion cases involving American minors who died by suicide.
The US official acknowledged the contributions of the EFCC, Federal Ministry of Justice and Office of the Attorney General of the Federation to investigations and extradition proceedings.
He also stressed the need to expand cooperation beyond individual cases to target criminal networks, financial infrastructure and facilitators.
US Raises Alarm Over Sextortion, Romance Scams
The United States identified financially motivated sextortion as a growing threat to young people.
According to the statement, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children received more than 50,000 reports of sextortion in 2025, equivalent to approximately 137 reports daily.
“The FBI identifies Nigeria and other parts of West Africa, as well as Southeast Asia, among the locations where the most prevalent sextortion networks have operated,” the statement said.
It added that the FBI was working with Nigerian authorities through Operation Artemis and related initiatives to identify and disrupt networks targeting Americans.
Both countries are also intensifying efforts against romance scams, which exploit trust and personal relationships to defraud victims of their savings and retirement funds.
The Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre launched a nationwide online safety and cyber-hygiene campaign in March.
The campaign targets romance scams, sextortion, phishing, identity theft and business email compromise.
Gonzales commended the EFCC for its economic crime investigations, prosecutions, asset recovery and public engagement.
The US mission said the agency’s partnership with the FBI demonstrated effective international law enforcement cooperation through information sharing, suspect identification, arrests and extradition proceedings.
Nigeria-US Security Cooperation
The latest engagement builds on broader security cooperation between Nigeria and the United States, including the establishment of a joint working group to coordinate responses to shared security challenges.
In November 2025, National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu led a Nigerian delegation to Washington for meetings with officials from the US Congress, White House Faith Office, State Department, National Security Council and Department of War.
The delegation included the Attorney General of the Federation, Chief of Defence Staff and Inspector-General of Police.
Further engagements included meetings between Ribadu and US Vice President JD Vance in May 2026, as well as a visit by US Assistant Secretary of State Frank Garcia to Abuja in July.
Discussions covered counterterrorism, intelligence sharing, defence cooperation and regional security.
The US identified stronger information sharing, faster cybercrime and financial intelligence investigations, increased public awareness and improved investigative and prosecutorial capacity as priorities for the next phase of cooperation.
