Nigeria has extradited 41 suspects to the United States since 2022, marking a significant increase in cooperation between both countries against cybercrime.Five of the extraditions were carried out in 2026, according to US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Michael Gonzales.Gonzales disclosed the figures during a visit to Abuja on Monday, where he met 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.A statement by the US Embassy in Nigeria said the FBI Legal Attaché Office in Abuja had worked with the EFCC on the extraditions.The figure represents a sharp increase from the period between 2012 and 2021, when Nigeria and the US recorded four arrests and five extraditions.The discussions during Gonzales’ visit focused on strengthening cooperation against financially motivated sextortion, romance scams and other forms of transnational cybercrime.He said the extraditions showed that suspected criminals could no longer rely on international borders to evade justice.“International borders do not provide sanctuary to those who prey on our citizens,” Gonzales said.In August, Nigeria extradited two alleged cybercriminals, Adebola Festus Adekunle and Mudasiru Afeez Olawale, to the US over separate cases involving the alleged sextortion of American minors who later died by suicide.The suspects were arrested in Nigeria in August 2023 and extradited on August 27, 2026, following cooperation between the FBI, EFCC and other Nigerian authorities. They have been charged and are presumed innocent until proven guilty.Gonzales commended the EFCC, the Federal Ministry of Justice and the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation for their roles in the investigations and extradition proceedings.He, however, called for faster and more proactive collaboration, urging both countries to extend their efforts beyond individual cases to criminal networks and the financial systems that support cybercrime.The US delegation also highlighted the scale of online sextortion, noting that the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received more than 50,000 reports in 2025, an average of about 137 daily.The FBI identifies Nigeria and other parts of West Africa, alongside Southeast Asia, as locations where some of the most prevalent sextortion networks operate, the embassy said.It added that the FBI works with Nigerian authorities through Operation Artemis and related initiatives to identify and disrupt networks targeting Americans.Nigeria has also stepped up public awareness efforts. The Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre launched a nationwide online safety campaign in March to educate citizens about romance scams, sextortion, phishing, identity theft and business email compromise.The US said it would continue supporting Nigeria through intelligence sharing, investigations, public awareness and efforts to improve cybercrime reporting and prosecution.
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