Stephen Angbulu Nigeria has been classified as a Tier 2 country in the 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report by the U.S. Department of State for the 13 th year.
Countries ranked Tier 2 are those whose governments “do not fully comply with the Trafficking Victims Protection. Act’s minimum standards but are making significant efforts to comply with those standards.” Nigeria last attained Tier 1 status in 2011 and has not done so since.
Its ranking also fluctuated between Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 2 (Watch List) based on annual reports published for the past 23 years. The annual TiPR categorises countries into four tiers as mandated by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000. The TIER 1—countries are those whose governments meet the TVPA’s minimum standards and TIER 2—countries, are those whose governments do not fully meet the TVPA’s minimum standards but are making significant efforts to meet those standards.
Others are TIER 2 Watch List—countries whose governments do not fully meet the TVPA’s minimum standards but are making significant efforts to meet those standards but are seeing a “significant increase” in the numbers of victims of severe forms of trafficking and TIER 3—countries, those whose governments do not fully meet the minimum standards and are not making significant efforts to do so. In 2009, 2010 and 2011, Nigeria maintained Tier 1 status in the global counter-human trafficking standing. However, regaining this status has proven elusive .
