According to Ghanaian police, 76 Ghanaians who were trafficked to Nigeria through a phony recruitment scheme have been saved.
Promises of football contracts with elite foreign teams, overseas job placements, or help obtaining visas were used to entice the victims, who were primarily young men.
Their phones and travel documents were confiscated when they arrived, and they were kept in cramped, subpar quarters, according to the police.
Under the pretense of paying training or facilitation fees, the victims were compelled to approach their relatives in order to request roughly $1,000 (£727). The scammers also allegedly conned the victims’ friends and family using their phone contact lists.
In relation to the trafficking, seven suspects from Ghana have been taken into custody.
At a press briefing, Lydia Yaako Donkor, the head of Ghana’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID), stated that the rescue effort was carried out in coordination with Nigerian law enforcement and Interpol.
Between May 19 and June 27 of this year, the victims were rescued from various states in Nigeria; they have not yet been returned to Ghana to be reunited with their families.
The head of CID advised families to confirm offers of high-paying jobs and overseas education before accepting them.
According to her, victims are typically told to travel by road to a foreign nation after being duped.
Later on, they are moved to “holding camps”—rented rooms where up to 40 people are compelled to live in unfavorable conditions. According to Ms. Donkor, they are forced to recruit others under duress, even lying to their own friends and family.
The victims are frequently “so malnourished and psychologically affected” that they are unable to return to their regular lives, she said, adding that “the psychological and economic harm caused to these victims and their families is devastating.”
Due to allegations of operating a Ponzi scheme, QNET, a global lifestyle and wellness marketing company allegedly connected to the recruitment scam, has been prohibited from doing business in Ghana since 2022.
The business has denied any involvement in fraudulent activities on numerous occasions.
In Ghana and Nigeria, it is not unusual for people to fall for online fraud schemes after being seduced by false job promises.
According to the police, they are working to apprehend everyone involved in the scam.