Nigeria has extradited 41 suspects to the United States since 2022, with five of the extraditions completed this year, as both countries strengthen cooperation against cybercrime.
The figure was disclosed by US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Michael Gonzales, during a visit to Abuja on Monday.
According to a statement issued by the US Embassy in Nigeria, the FBI Legal Attaché Office at the US Embassy in Abuja has worked with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on the 41 extraditions since 2022.
The embassy said this marked an increase from the period between 2012 and 2021, when Nigeria and the US recorded four arrests and five extraditions.
Gonzales met with officials of the EFCC, the Office of the National Security Adviser, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency and the Nigeria Police Force as part of activities marking Nigeria’s Cybercrime Awareness Week.
The discussions focused on strengthening joint efforts against financially motivated sextortion, romance scams and other forms of transnational cybercrime.
Commenting on the extraditions, Gonzales said cooperation between both countries had shown that international borders could no longer provide protection for suspected criminals.
“Recent extraditions demonstrate that when the United States and Nigeria combine investigative, diplomatic, and law-enforcement capabilities, international borders do not provide sanctuary to those who prey on our citizens,” he said.
In August, Nigeria extradited two alleged cybercriminals to the US to face separate charges relating to the sextortion of American minors who later died by suicide.
The US Department of Justice said the cases involved teenage victims who died following alleged online exploitation and extortion.
The two suspects, Adebola Festus Adekunle and Mudasiru Afeez Olawale, were arrested in Nigeria in August 2023 and extradited to the US on August 27, 2026, following cooperation involving the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), EFCC and other Nigerian authorities. They have been charged and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.
Gonzales commended the EFCC, the Federal Ministry of Justice and the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation for their support in the investigations and extradition proceedings.
He described the EFCC’s partnership with the FBI as an example of effective international law enforcement cooperation, involving information sharing, suspect identification, arrests and extradition proceedings.
However, he called for faster and more proactive cooperation, saying both countries would benefit from making their collaboration “faster, more routine, and increasingly proactive”.
He said the focus should extend beyond individual cases to criminal networks, financial infrastructure and those who facilitate cybercrime before more victims are harmed.
The US delegation also highlighted the scale of financially motivated sextortion, with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children receiving more than 50,000 reports in 2025, an average of about 137 reports daily.
According to the embassy, the FBI identifies Nigeria and other parts of West Africa, alongside Southeast Asia, as locations where some of the most prevalent sextortion networks have operated.
The statement said the FBI works with Nigerian authorities through Operation Artemis and related efforts to identify and disrupt networks targeting Americans.
Nigeria has also taken steps to raise awareness about online crimes. The Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre launched a nationwide online safety and cyber-hygiene campaign in March to educate the public on romance scams, sextortion, phishing, identity theft and business email compromise.
The US said it would continue working with Nigeria to strengthen information sharing, speed up the conversion of cyber and financial intelligence into investigations, expand public awareness and improve the country’s investigative, prosecutorial and cybercrime-reporting capabilities.
Gonzales said the success of the partnership would be measured by its results, including victims protected, criminal networks disrupted, investigations advanced and successful convictions.
He added that the aim was to strengthen Nigerian institutions so they could sustain the efforts for the benefit of both countries.
