Ghanaian authorities have been lauded by the Nigerian government for rescuing at least 219 young Nigerians who were trafficked to the West African nation and forced into cybercrimes.
The Nigerian government has also reiterated its commitment to providing technical education and skills to its youth in an effort to combat rising unemployment, which officials believe makes them vulnerable to such exploitation.
Nigeria’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, expressed her gratitude to Ghanaian authorities during a visit to the Economic and Organised Crimes Office (EOCO) in Accra, where the rescued victims were being held.
In a meeting with the Executive Director of EOCO, Mr. Bashiru Dapilah, and other officials, Ambassador Odumegwu-Ojukwu thanked the agency for its professional handling of the operation and for treating the victims with dignity.
The Minister, who was in Ghana for the 50th-anniversary launch of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and an extraordinary session on the withdrawal of Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, condemned the exploitation of the young Nigerians as “callous and inhuman,” describing trafficking as “modern slavery.”
She urged Nigerian youth to be wary of enticing job offers from abroad, warning that they could be a lure into forced labour.
Ambassador Odumegwu-Ojukwu stated that the Nigerian High Commission in Ghana had alerted her to the situation, detailing how the victims were held in inhumane conditions before the successful operation to dismantle the criminal network.
She described the conditions the young men were subjected to: “Prior to their rescue, these boys had been locked up in about 25 rooms within the estate where they were used to perpetrate cybercrimes… At the time of their arrest, many of them, being locked inside confined spaces with computers for weeks on end without being let outside, were even unable to get their eyes to adjust to the sun… Some had been serially abused with visible lacerations inflicted on them by their criminal ‘don’ while one had his legs broken for not tendering all the proceeds of his cybercrime.”
Addressing the rescued victims, the Minister emphasised their fortunate escape, noting that many others in similar situations have died or are languishing in prisons worldwide. She expressed relief that Ghana, a country with strong bilateral ties with Nigeria, was involved in the rescue.
Ambassador Odumegwu-Ojukwu highlighted Nigeria’s commitment to citizen-centred diplomacy under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, adding that government programmes aim to equip youth with skills to prevent them from engaging in such crimes.
Mr. Dapilah, the Executive Director of Ghana’s EOCO, explained that the operation was based on intelligence and noted that some Ghanaians were also involved in the criminal network, including the owner of the estate where the victims were held. He called for increased collaboration between Nigeria and Ghana to apprehend the perpetrators.
He praised the majority of Nigerians in Ghana as law-abiding citizens contributing positively to the country’s economy and thanked the Nigerian High Commission for its close cooperation.
The Chargé D’Affaires at the Nigerian High Commission in Ghana, Ambassador Dayo Adeoye, reiterated that many of the estimated three million Nigerians residing in Ghana are contributing to the host country’s development and called for more awareness campaigns to combat trafficking.
A group of 231 rescued young Nigerians, including those mentioned in the initial report, are expected to arrive in Lagos on Friday and will be handed over to Nigerian government officials.
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