Nigeria Trafficking Map (I): Libya Down 76% As Ghana Overtakes S/Arabia

…11-Year NAPTIP Data Reveal Shifting Routes

…Ghana Second-Highest Destination For Trafficked Nigerians

…Libya’s Dominance Weakens, S/Arabia Hits Record High

In 2022, about 8 in 10 Nigerians intercepted by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) whereas being trafficked overseas had been headed for Libya. Three years later, Libya remained the main vacation spot, however a distinct route had emerged. Ghana turned the second commonest vacation spot within the company’s data.

An evaluation of 11-year NAPTIP knowledge obtained by THE WHISTLER exhibits a shift within the locations of victims intercepted by Nigerian authorities. While the long-established Libya hall stays energetic, interceptions involving Ghana and Saudi Arabia have elevated. This is the primary of a three-part investigation.

In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic had shut borders and grounded a lot of worldwide journey, NAPTIP intercepted 34 Nigerians headed for Saudi Arabia.

They weren’t vacationers or college students.

They had been individuals, principally ladies, allegedly being trafficked into home work underneath the kafala sponsorship system, which Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have mentioned creates circumstances that may quantity to pressured labour and trendy slavery.

Five years later, the quantity had risen to 89, the best recorded in NAPTIP’s knowledge. Alongside that improve was one other notable determine. NAPTIP intercepted 117 Nigerians headed for Ghana, a vacation spot that had barely featured in earlier years.

THE WHISTLER analysed destination-country knowledge protecting 2015 to 2025. The figures recommend trafficking routes are altering in ways in which have obtained little public consideration.

Decline Of Libya Route

For a lot of the interval coated by the info, Libya dominated Nigeria’s trafficking routes.

In 2022, NAPTIP intercepted 1,300 Nigerians headed for Libya. That represented 83.2 per cent of all victims intercepted whereas being trafficked overseas that yr.

For years, the Libya hall, by means of the Sahara Desert and throughout the Mediterranean in the direction of Europe, turned synonymous with harmful migration, detention, exploitation and makes an attempt to achieve Europe.

By 2024, interceptions involving Libya had dropped to 301. In 2025, they stood at 311.

The route stays the most important vacation spot in NAPTIP’s data, however it now not accounts for the overwhelming majority of circumstances.

At the identical time, Ghana started showing extra steadily within the knowledge.

NAPTIP recorded 42 interceptions involving Ghana in 2022. That rose to 89 in 2023, dipped to 65 in 2024, and climbed to 117 in 2025.

Although Libya nonetheless recorded practically 3 times as many interceptions in 2025, Ghana ranked forward of Saudi Arabia and each different vacation spot within the dataset.

The Ghana Route

Unlike the Libya hall, the Ghana route just isn’t properly documented.

The motion of trafficking victims by means of Libya in the direction of Europe has been extensively documented by INTERPOL, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), journalists and humanitarian organisations.

Comparable public documentation doesn’t but exist for the Ghana route.

Ghana shares an overland hall with Nigeria by means of Benin Republic, making journey by street comparatively straightforward. NAPTIP additionally recorded 21 interceptions involving Benin Republic in 2025, indicating continued motion alongside that hall.

The knowledge obtained by THE WHISTLER doesn’t point out whether or not the 117 victims intercepted whereas heading to Ghana had been destined for exploitation inside Ghana or whether or not the nation was serving as a transit level.